Governor Jerry Brown said that California’s conflict with the federal government is, quote, “sharpening”. But theEPA and Administrator Scott Pruitt refuse to do their job and enforce these standards,”saidCalifornia Attorney General Xavier Becerra”.
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Washington is among 17 states that announced a lawsuit against the Trump administration Tuesday over its plans to scrap standards on vehicle greenhouse gas emissions, which help set gas mileage rules.
Joining California in filing the lawsuit are Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and the District of Columbia.
The legal fight over emissions standards anticipates another one on the horizon: the high probability that the EPA will next try to kill the Clean Air Act waiver (in effect since 1970) under which California has been able to pursue stronger air-quality measures than those prevailing nationally.
Brown, who leaves office at the end of 2018, has staked a great deal of his personal political legacy on the battle over climate change. The plan compels automobile manufacturers to, by 2025, develop new vehicle models with an average fuel economy of 55 miles per gallon.
The auto industry is itself shifting toward selling cars that generate far less emissions. Pruitt’s agency said that the standards are “based on outdated information” and that new data suggests “the current standards may be too stringent”.
The EPA and NHTSA plan to submit their proposal on fuel economy regulations to the White House for review in the coming days. He reportedly proposed keeping fuel efficiency standards at levels the auto industry is now projected to hit in 2020, which is roughly 40 mpg.
EPA spokeswoman Molly Block said the agency would not comment on the lawsuit.
Pruitt, the EPA administrator, has said the standards are costly for automakers and consumers.
Democratic politicians, including Sen. The Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, of which Carper is the ranking Democrat member, earlier obtained the draft proposed rule. “The Trump administration can not ignore the science and the law”, Feinstein said. The agreement was that auto manufacturers would move towards continued increases in the reduction of greenhouse gases and also the increase in gas mileage for vehicles.
“Certainly, the administration supports states’ rights”, she said. That’s because when the law was signed, California had the nation’s worst smog problem. Meanwhile, a new report from the World Health Organization reveals 90 percent of people on Earth are breathing polluted air and that air pollution kills 7 million people worldwide every year.
“Trump is a one-man demolition derby on science and the Clean Air Act”, Gov.
California intends to pursue air quality regulation as if the Obama-era rules remain in place, said Annalisa Bevan, assistant chief of the state air board’s automotive emissions compliance division. EPA is in the process of rewriting those standards that aimed to slash carbon dioxide emissions from vehicles.
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When combined with previous standards, the move almost doubled the fuel efficiency of those vehicles compared to new vehicles now on our roads.
