Environmentalists bash Trump for 'brazen' move on clean cars
Illinois Environmental Council charges EPA is ‘abdicating’ enforcement
Northern Illinois University earned praise from the Illinois EPA for switching to an “Illinois Green Fleet” of hybrid cars for its campus police a decade ago. (Flickr/Inventorchris)
By Ted Cox
President Trump’s move to dump Clean Car Standards imposed by the Obama administration drew a swift rebuke Tuesday from environmentalists.
Calling it a “brazen rollback of clean-car standards,” the Illinois Environmental Council said a new rule imposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ignores how “these standards have saved Illinois families over $1.3 billion at the pump, with the average household saving about $250.”
Trump has persistently tried to roll back or undermine initiatives from President Obama ranging from the Affordable Care Act to reforms on school discipline to participation in the Paris Climate Agreement. The Obama administration’s strict rule on cars — calling for automakers to make them 4.7 percent more fuel efficient every year — was a frequent target for Trump, and on Tuesday the EPA put that opposition into action.
According to a story in The Guardian, the Trump administration’s “final rule, written by the EPA and the Department of Transportation, sets an improvement rate of 1.5 percent per year — or an industry average of 40.4 miles per gallon by 2026. That’s far less than the 2.4 percent per year by which the industry has said it will increase standards without any regulation.”
EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler, a former coal-industry lobbyist, attempted to defend the order with a statement saying: “Now, more than ever, this country needs a sensible national program that strikes the right regulatory balance for the environment, the auto industry, the economy, safety, and American families. [This rule] does all of those things by improving fuel economy, continuing to reduce air pollution, and making new vehicles more affordable for all Americans.”
The IEC rebuffed that, saying it will “stick drivers with a $40 billion bill. In the longer term, it will generate 900 million metric tons of carbon pollution.” It added, “Clean-car standards make our cars more efficient, allowing us to drive the same distances for less gas, which means less money.” It went on to cite the $1.3 billion in savings, about $250 a household, Illinoisans saved at the gas pump since Obama imposed the old regulation.
“The new rules represent a significant step backward in the fight against climate change.”
Attorney General Kwame Raoul (Blue Room Stream)
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul weighed in Tuesday as well, charging the Trump administration’s changes would move the country in the wrong direction on climate change. Raoul issued a statement saying: “The Clean Car Standards would have dramatically reduced climate-change-causing carbon emissions, protected the health and safety of our residents, and saved consumers thousands of dollars over the lifetime of a vehicle by using less gasoline. The new rules will provide no meaningful reductions in carbon emissions. The new rules represent a significant step backward in the fight against climate change.
“I am disappointed that the federal government rolled back the Clean Car Standards,” he added, “but I will continue to fight to protect the environment and health of Illinois residents.”
The IEC also called out the EPA for halting enforcement of existing environmental regulations earlier this week and using the coronavirus pandemic as an excuse. “This rollback of clean-car standards comes two days after the U.S. EPA announced it was putting a freeze on enforcing regulations, thereby abdicating its primary responsibility,” the IEC stated. “Simply put, our communities need more protection from toxic air pollution that threatens our lungs and hearts right now, not less.”