EPA's Scott Pruitt announces revisions in vehicle fuel emission standards
EPA administrator Scott Pruitt announced there will be revisions to vehicle fuel emissions standards Tuesday, a day after the Trump administration announced its intentions to roll back signature Obama-era greenhouse gas and fuel emissions standards for cars and light trucks. But Pruitt, making the announcement in Chantilly, Va., with his comments capped on either end by automotive executives, said exactly what those changes are have yet to be determined.
Tuesday's event was the first public event for Pruitt after weekend reports exposed possible ethics violations by the administrator. It was revealed Pruitt rented a condo in D.C. from an energy lobbyist for just $50 a day. Democrats have asked the EPA Inspector General to look into the agreement, which has put Pruitt in the unwelcome spotlight.
President Trump, as CBS News has reported, told Pruitt in a call Monday to keep fighting -- but his future is unclear.
Pruitt has said that the emissions determination made by President Obama's EPA was "wrong" and that the agency was still working to determine "appropriate standards."
"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," Pruitt wrote in a recent statement.
Mr. Trump has long teased Pruitt's plans to roll back Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standards (CAFE), a move expected to be welcomed by automakers. On Tuesday, Pruitt praised Mr. Trump for lessening the burden of regulations more broadly.
CBS News' Jacqueline Alemany contributed to this report.
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Pruitt says this is "another step" in Trump's deregulation process
Pruitt pointed to the emissions rollback as just "another step" in Mr. Trump's mission to eliminate unnecessary regulations.
Pruitt said Mr. Trump is putting Americas first.
Pruitt says vehicle standards are "inappropriate"
Pruitt decried the emissions standards set out by the Obama administration.
The EPA head called the standards "inappropriate" and untenable. Pruitt said his decision will begin a process of determining what those standards should be.
"This would begin a process that will determine what those standards should be," Pruitt said.
"We're here to talk about jobs," Pruitt says
Pruitt -- surrounded by signs touting jobs and the economy -- said they're "here to talk about jobs" and other decisions in the executive branch to get back to "common sense" regulations.
Pruitt noted how one of the first things Mr. Trump did in the White House was to invite auto industry leaders to talk about vehicles and the economy.
Automotive executive introduces Pruitt
The head of an automotive industry group introduced Pruitt, praising the EPA administrator.