Trump lifting regulations at automakers' request is a big deal


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Donald Trump's intentions to lift regulations concerning gas mileage and emissions standards are no secret, and automakers have been asking for the change for months. Jalopnik reports that the changes are coming sooner rather than later from Trump's EPA pick Scott Pruitt, so we wanted to take a look at the impact this could have.

While looser gas mileage and emissions standards immediately bring visions of massive V8's dancing in enthusiast's heads, The Drive notes the unlikeliness of these changes affecting long term industry trends. Not only do new engine designs take too long to bank on a single president's whims, but every other market in an increasingly globalized industry are unlikely to loosen their own restrictions.

What is possible, is that some older models get to stick around longer before regulations are inevitably put back into place, forcing companies to move away from the big engines we know and love. While this is temporarily great news for things like Chargers, Camaros and other fantastical beasts. Long term it could lead to American companies falling behind their foreign competitors a-la the malaise era.

More than likely, companies in the US will foresee these dangers and continue ahead with cleaner, more efficient technology. So, despite a temporary win for the "no replacement for displacement" crowd, we should still be conscious of enjoying our trucks and muscle cars while we still can. The turbo/hybrid/electric future won't be all bad, though.

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Related: A hybrid muscle car could actually be good