The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is facing strong criticism for weakening greenhouse gas emission and fuel economy standards for light-duty vehicles to 2025, with concerns that it could affect the domestic industry, environment and consumers.

There are concerns that weaker standards could affect development of future drivetrains in the United States.

Announced today by EPA administrator, Scott Pruitt, the re-evaluation process follows pressure from carmakers and other industry stakeholders to re-assess standards put in place by the Obama Administration. This had set the 2022-2015 final limits last January, instead of following an original timeline laid out in 2012, which had included an evaluation starting this month.

Pruitt said the standards set were not appropriate, based on consumer behaviour and vehicle technology: “The Obama Administration’s determination was wrong. Obama’s EPA cut the midterm evaluation process short with politically charged expediency, made assumptions about the standards that didn’t comport with reality, and set the standards too high.”

The EPA will now work with the United States Department of Transportation, and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to set new greenhouse gas emission and Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards to 2025.

For the first time, the EPA will look to roll these out across all states, including the 13 that currently have a waiver enabling them to enforce stricter standards than those set nationally. These states encompass a third of all new vehicles sold in the United States.

“Cooperative federalism doesn’t mean that one state can dictate standards for the rest of the country,” said Pruitt.

The actions have attracted widespread concern, including the Union of Concerned Scientists (USC), which pointed out that the policy had delivered progressively more fuel-efficient vehicles since 2012, saving American consumers $57bn in fuel and cutting CO2 emissions by 228 million metric tonnes, while also giving certainty to the industry for future technology development.

Less stringent standards, the UCS said, wouId affect the development of next-generation drivetrains in the United States, limit consumer choice, increase emissions and have a negative effect on the economy. It added that the old standards were realistic and cost-effective, even with rising demand for SUVs, and made the used market less prone to the effects of fluctuating fuel prices.

Dave Cooke, senior vehicles analyst at the UCS, commented: “The industry needs to stand up for the science and protect the environment, or they’ll remain guilty of using an ideological administration to ignore the facts, costing the public deeply. And you can bet the public will be watching, and hopefully giving the agency and the industry a piece of its mind.”