Traffic jams up on eastbound 91 freeway near Corona, California, Wednesday, Dec. 29, 2010. This photo was taken just days before California voted on new rules that would require automakers to build cars and trucks by 2025 that emit about three-quarters less smog-producing pollutants and also mandate that one of every seven new cars sold in the states be a zero-emission or plug-in hybrid vehicle.

(AP Photo/Orange County Register, Bruce Chambers)

The Trump administration is reportedly about to relax restrictions on your gas mileage and what comes out of your car’s tailpipe.

Automakers have asked for the looser rules, and according to published reportsthe Trump administration is expected to make that announcement any day now.

The reported considerationto put an end to standards negotiated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the auto industry in 2011 is seen as a blow to environmental strides made under former President Barack Obama.

Andrew Linhardt, associate director of federal policy for the Sierra Club, told weather.com that the only beneficiaries of Trump’s decision are Big Oil and auto executives.

“Trump won’t just pump more profits into Big Oil’s pockets by raising gas prices with this attack, he’ll endanger the health of our children and families by abolishing life-saving vehicle emissions protections that cut down on dangerous smog pollution and asthma attacks,” Linhardt said.

In fact, Obama’s policies were based on studies that say passenger vehicles are a major pollutioncontributor by producing significant amounts of nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide, among other pollutants.

In 2013, said transportation contributed to more than half of the carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides, and almost a quarter of the hydrocarbons emitted into our air.

The study also found that in 2005, air pollution was responsible for 200,000 premature deaths, including 58,000 deaths directly attributed to vehicle emissions.

The Trump administration seems to be making its decisions under pressure from automotive lobbyists, who sent asking for the looser requirements.

“For the auto industry, the final determination may be the single most important decision that EPA has made in recent history,” wrote Mitch Bainwol, president and CEO of Auto Alliance, in his letter to the EPA.

Bainwol noted that the stipulation that all new cars and trucks achieve an average of 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025 would cost the industry $200 billion, add thousands of dollars to the price of new cars and eliminate a million jobs.

The trade group also highlighted the fact that the standardsdidn't take intoaccount today's cheaper gas, which has prompted consumers to opt for gas-guzzlingtrucks and SUVs over more efficient cars. When the standards were conceived in 2012, the average cost of gas was $3.60 per gallon. Today, it's $2.30 per gallon. In fact, six of every 10 vehicles purchased today are either trucks or SUVs compared to 2012, when more than half of new vehicles purchased in the U.S. were cars.

Automakers also complained abouttechnical challenges it would take to get vehicles to the standard adopted by the Obama administration, noting that only 3.5 percent of new vehicles are able to reach it.

Former Obama administrators and environmentalists balk at those claims and lament the latest considerations.

“It would be terribly inappropriateif EPA ends up rolling back greenhouse gas vehicle standards that are technologically feasible and cost effective,” William Becker, executive director of the National Association of Clean Air Agencies, told weather.com.

Becker noted thatthe standards approved by the Obama administration would not only make substantial reductions in greenhouse gasses, they would have significant collateral air quality benefits, such as reducing smog-forming emissions and fine particles, which lead to premature mortality and morbidity.

As a federal mandate, states that have already adopted their own stringent tailpipe standards for drivers — New York, Massachusetts and California, for example — would likely put up a legal fight as this decision might override state law.

“The EPA has been hinting at interfering with the state of California's existing authority to set its own standards,” Becker said. "That would be intolerable.”

Linhardt added that environmental groups have a“long fight ahead to defend these standards” but added that the “science and facts are on our side."

"When we fight back against any efforts to defend these life-saving emissions reductions, we will be on strong, legal footing,” he said.

Gina McCarthy, EPA administrator during Obama's second term, called the move an “all-out attack on environmental protection,” .

In an interview with MSNBC on Saturday, McCarthy said the "latest news on clean cars is actually rolling back significant benefits that we have provided to people — cleaner air, as well as addressing some of the challenges we have with carbon pollution that's fueling climate change."

McCarthy also commented on the proposed 25 percent budget cut to the EPA.

"I don't know why they've decided that our core values no longer include clean air and clean water, but that seems to be what this is about," McCarthy said.