State officials criticize plan for fuel economy standards
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California officials upped the ante Friday in their fight with President Donald Trump over vehicle fuel economy standards, urging the administration to withdraw its proposal to weaken federal rules and eliminate the state’s ability to set its own greenhouse gas emission guidelines.
“This is high-stakes poker that’s being played by the federal government,” said California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, alongside Gov. Jerry Brown and California Air Resources Board Chairwoman Mary Nichols, at a news conference overlooking Interstate 5 in Sacramento. “It’s not just the issue of climate change that’s in the balance. It’s also the health of the American people.”
Becerra and 20 other state attorneys general across the country filed formal comments in a letter Friday to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The letter was in response to the federal government’s August proposal to freeze federal vehicle mileage targets and end California’s autonomy to implement more stringent rules.
The letter contends that the Trump administration’s plan “presents a significant threat to the health and safety of our citizens and our environment” and is illegal under the federal Clean Air Act. The coalition of states is asking the administration to scrap the plan.
Current Obama-era federal fuel economy standards call for the nation’s cars and trucks to average more than 50 miles per gallon by 2025. California also has authority to require automakers to sell a specified number of electric vehicles.
The Trump administration plan would freeze vehicle mileage targets in 2020 for six years at around 37 miles per gallon and revoke California’s ability to set its own vehicle emissions standards, which 13 other states now follow.
Environmental Protection Agency officials have conceded the plan would lead to fewer emissions reductions but argue that it would not improve vehicle and highway safety.