Trump names proud climate-science denier to head EPA transition team

The White House, Washington, D.C.  [Creative Commons license by dcjohn]It didn't take long for the country to get its first indication of what a Donald Trump Administration could mean for U.S. climate policy. Trump has repeatedly denied the science of climate change, calling it a "hoax" at times. Prior to his Tuesday election victory, he also named a top climate-science denier to head his Environmental Protection...

EPA reports show automakers meeting fuel-economy, carbon emission rules

Fuel gaugeLow gas prices and high sales of crossovers and SUVs have led critics of current U.S. emissions standards to question whether automakers can continue meeting those standards. But a new report from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) shows that so far, carmakers are doing just fine. The EPA's annual CO2 and Fuel Economy Trends Report compares...

EPA proposes to add more ethanol blends to ‘Flex Fuel’ category

FlexFuel badge on E85-capable 2009 Chevrolet HHRBack in 2007, the Energy Independent and Security Act included a Renewable Fuel Standard intended to boost adoption of lower-emission alternative fuels. It mandated increasingly-large amounts of ethanol to be blended with the U.S. fuel supply. Just under a decade later, the legislation has attracted criticism from both opponents of ethanol and the...

At 133 MPGe, Toyota Prius Prime wallops BMW i3 on energy efficiency

2017 Toyota Prius Prime PremiumMove over, BMW: there's a new efficiency champion in town this year—and you'll have to give back that laurel wreath you've worn since 2014. Last week, final EPA fuel-efficiency results were released for the 2017 Toyota Prius Prime plug-in hybrid. When running in all-electric mode, that car is now the most energy-efficient vehicle you can buy...

EPA’s emissions sleuth: the most powerful man you’ve never heard of

Chris Grundler, director of EPA Office of Transportation and Air Quality [photo: EPA via Flickr]Current Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards require U.S. automakers to achieve a fleet average of 54.5 mpg (equivalent to roughly 40 mpg on the window sticker) by 2025. But who ensures that companies are actually complying with the CAFE mandate? As automakers work to meet stricter emissions standards, the little-known staff of regulatory...

VW Dieselgate one year later: what have we learned about diesel cars?

Volkswagen TDI 'clean diesel' television ad screencapIt's now a year and eight days since the EPA broke the news that Volkswagen had admitted to including "defeat device" software in almost half a million so-called "clean diesel" vehicles sold in the U.S. from 2009 through 2015. That software detected when the cars were undergoing laboratory tests, and kept their emissions within legal limits during...