US automakers must fight rollback of Clean Air Act

Seven years ago, America’s automobile companies were in a collaborative mood. The industry was near total collapse and looking for help to regain its footing. At that time, they agreed to leverage American innovation to create cleaner, safer cars that go farther on a gallon of gas, reducing dangerous carbon pollution, and saving consumers money at the pump. That decision contributed to the remarkable recovery of the industry. Now, the auto companies are staring down a new market uncertainty triggered by the Trump administration’s unhealthy obsession with unraveling health and environmental protections.

For the last three years, the administration has been working to repeal and replace the historic agreement that produced today’s clean car standards with a voluntary standard that sets no meaningful goals for addressing tailpipe pollution or improving fuel economy. Taking this assault on our health even further, the Trump administration recently announced it would repeal a long-standing waiver granted under the authority of the Clean Air Act that allows states to set stronger pollution protections for automobiles.

The transportation sector is the leading domestic source of the carbon pollution that contributes to climate change, releasing 1.9 billion tons of carbon pollution annually.

When developing the current clean car standards, the Obama administration negotiated a hard bargain with the auto companies, labor unions, and environmental organizations. The auto industry agreed to do their part and work to meet commonsense targets for fuel economy and reductions in tailpipe pollution. Those targets were to be implemented in two rounds, first reducing pollution and achieving fuel economy standards of 35.5 miles per gallon on average by 2016 and a second round that allowed more time to achieve additional pollution reductions by 2025.

The car companies achieved this first set of goals with flying colors. They witnessed an unprecedented revival of the American automobile industry, selling more cars while making them safer, more efficient, and cleaner than ever before. So far, the clean car standards have saved families more than $91 billion at the pump. Conversely, a Consumer Reports study found the Trump rollback will cost consumers $460 billion.

Hundreds of thousands of individuals and organizations from industry, labor, environmental, health, and consumer

HOME DELIVERY RATES groups have asked the Trump administration to keep the clean car standards in place, as have 150 bipartisan Members of Congress, 17 governors, and 20 state attorneys general. According to a poll from the American Lung Association, nearly three-quarters of voters support the current standards, including majorities of Republican, Democratic, and Independent voters.

Under the authority of the Clean Air Act, fourteen states and the District of Columbia, representing over a third of the domestic automobile market and 35 percent of the U.S. population, collaborate on stronger-than-federal clean car standards. The day after the administration formally announced that it was revoking this state authority, 24 attorneys general filed a lawsuit to stop the rollback. The following week, Minnesota and New Mexico announced their intent to develop plans to become the next clean car states. What’s more, even the auto companies believe the administration is going too far. Seeking business certainty, four auto companies have negotiated a new deal with these clean car states to continue to reduce pollution and save consumers money. While this new agreement is no replacement for the current national standards, it’s better than the Trump rollback.

What was the administration’s response? The U.S. Department of Justice launched a clearly punitive anti-trust investigation against the manufacturers.

The existing standards are fair, achievable, and affordable. They have dramatically reduced dangerous tailpipe pollution from cars and trucks. There are over 26 million Americans suffering from asthma who will be affected by increased carbon pollution and climate change should these protections be rolled back.

Now is not the time to retreat from the most important and effective standards we have for addressing climate change. Time and again, American ingenuity has beaten the odds and found the solutions we need to grow our economy while protecting our environment. The Trump administration should abandon its ill-conceived policy and American automakers should rise to the occasion, reject this rollback and defend the Clean Air Act. The health of our children and the health of the economy both depend on it.