The Trump administration has proposed rolling back clean car standards — comprised of greenhouse gas emissions standards and fuel efficiency standards that are coordinated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
When announcing the EPA’s plan to rewrite the standards, then agency administrator Scott Pruitt argued that the EPA had, under the previous leadership, rushed to conclude a midterm evaluation of emissions standards that the automakers had agreed to in 2012. In reality, the Obama midterm evaluation was built upon a 1,217 page analysis performed by EPA staff, a rigorous scientific and economic review that found that car companies currently had the technology to achieve the targets for model years 2022-2025, and that the economic benefits to car buyers would outweigh increased costs of compliance.
As reported in a New York Times investigation, Big Oil and the Koch network launched a covert campaign to lobby for a rollback of the Obama-era clean car standards.
KochvsClean will continue to track these ongoing efforts to keep Americans buying more and more gasoline to fuel less efficient vehicles, despite the incredible innovation happening on fuel efficiency and the increased affordability and range of electric vehicles.
Latest news on the clean car standards…
- Bipartisan Group of Governors Pushes Back on Big Oil, Tells Trump Admin to Halt Clean Car Rollbacks - As the Trump administration scrambles to formalize its rollback of clean car standards, 24 governors are telling the President to pump the brakes on the proposed rule. The governors have signed a letter, as reported this morning in The New York Times, Associated Press, and Bloomberg, requesting that the administration reconsider the rollback of fuel … Continue reading "Bipartisan Group of Governors Pushes Back on Big Oil, Tells Trump Admin to Halt Clean Car Rollbacks"
- Congressional Dems Investigating Why Big Oil Is ‘Only Winner’ in Clean Car Standard Rollbacks - House Democrats in the Energy and Commerce Committee are actively investigating the oil industry’s role in shaping the Trump administration’s proposed rollback of greenhouse gas and fuel economy standards for cars and light duty trucks. On the eve of today’s joint hearing of two House Energy and Commerce Subcommittees on the proposed rollback, Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. … Continue reading "Congressional Dems Investigating Why Big Oil Is ‘Only Winner’ in Clean Car Standard Rollbacks"
- Congressional Dems to EPA’s Wheeler: Stop Spreading Oil Industry Lies About Clean Car Rules - Two Democratic Congressional leaders are calling out U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler for knowingly deceiving the public and Congress on the proposed Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient (SAFE) Vehicles rule.
- Trump’s Clean Car Rollbacks Would Cost Drivers More Money, Finds Surprised Bush-era Official - As the Trump administration works to rewrite and weaken clean car standards, the targeted Obama-era rules received an unexpected boost from an unlikely source. A new study by President George W. Bush’s anti-regulatory czar found that the current fuel efficiency and emissions standards are good for the economy as a whole, mostly due to the … Continue reading "Trump’s Clean Car Rollbacks Would Cost Drivers More Money, Finds Surprised Bush-era Official"
- Trump Admin Hands Win to Kochs, Stops Clean Car Negotiations With California - The Trump administration just took a big step closer to handing the Koch network one of it biggest wins yet under this presidency. Bloomberg has reported that there will be no deal between the Trump administration and California on fuel efficiency and emissions standards for cars and light vehicles.
- How AFPM Rallied GOP Governors’ Support for Trump’s Rollback of Auto Standards - As the Trump administration worked to revise and relax federal fuel economy and emissions standards for cars and light trucks, an oil refiners trade group worked connections with Republican governors to rally support for the proposed rollback. Emails obtained by Documented, a watchdog group that tracks corporate influence in government, revealed that the American Fuel & … Continue reading "How AFPM Rallied GOP Governors’ Support for Trump’s Rollback of Auto Standards"
- Senators Demand Trump Administration Reveal Marathon Petroleum and Koch Influence in Clean Car Standards Rollbacks - Two senate democrats this week ordered several Trump administration cabinet members and agency officials to reveal how the oil industry and Koch network have worked behind closed doors to influence the proposed rollback of auto efficiency and emissions standards. Senator Tom Carper of Delaware and Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer sent a letter to the … Continue reading "Senators Demand Trump Administration Reveal Marathon Petroleum and Koch Influence in Clean Car Standards Rollbacks"
- Americans for Prosperity Launches Campaign to Crush Fuel Economy Standards - Americans For Prosperity, a political advocacy network funded a the Koch brothers, recently launched a campaign to support President Trump’s efforts to roll back fuel efficiency and automobile emissions standards. Through social media feeds of the many AFP state chapters, the group is promoting a petition to “Repeal Costly Obama-era Fuel Standards.”
- American Energy Alliance Push Poll Skews Public Support for Clean Cars and Electric Vehicles - The American Energy Alliance (AEA), a free market group with close ties to the Koch brothers, just released misleading results of a poll concerning the environmental virtues and federal support of electric vehicles, and voter opinions on auto efficiency standards.
- Colorado Adopts California Clean Car Standards in Another Blow to Trump, Kochs - Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper announced Tuesday that his state would join 13 states and the District of Columbia in adopting California’s clean car emissions standards. “Colorado has a choice,” Gov. Hickenlooper said in a statement. “This executive order calls for the state to adopt air quality standards that will protect our quality of life in … Continue reading "Colorado Adopts California Clean Car Standards in Another Blow to Trump, Kochs"