EPA Tightens Vehicle GHG Standards, Citing Greater EV Deployment

EPA has finalized near-term light-duty vehicle greenhouse gas standards more stringent than originally proposed, with changes including higher projections of electric vehicle (EV) deployment that will aid compliance, and narrower compliance flexibility mechanisms in response to critiques from environmentalists and others. The agency says its Dec. 20 final rule -- particularly the stringency for model year 2026 vehicles -- is a “historic” action that reverses to the extent possible the Trump administration’s rollback of Obama-era standards covering MY21-25. Even so,...