As expected, last week the Trump Administration made official their plans to undo policies implemented in 2012 that were intended to improve gas mileage requirements and vehicle emissions for cars sold in the USA.
The administration also plans to eliminate the waiver that has allowed California to set their own, tougher standards on car makers, which would also affect the 13 other states that had adopted California’s standards.
Locally, environmentalists and others have spoken out against the rollback, citing impacts on climate change, job loss, and the added costs to consumers at the gas pump.
Even the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers and the Association of Global Automakers seem vexed by the move. They issued a joint statement in support of “continued improvements in fuel economy … while balancing priorities like affordability, safety, jobs, and the environment,” and called for “a common sense solution that sets continued increases in vehicle efficiency standards.”
So if no one seemed to be pressing for such rollbacks, why did the administration feel they were needed?

“The Trump Administration is doing the bidding of deep-pocketed corporations, big oil, and their Washington lobbyists, with no regard for the hardworking American families who are harmed by their reckless policies,” said Terra Pascarosa, environmental director for TerraScapes, a Norfolk-based environmental consulting firm specializing in grassroots, advocacy, media communications, event planning, and eco-consulting.
Pascarosa said advancements in fuel efficiency, spurred by clean car standards, save Americans money and have spurred innovation and investment in the automotive industry, creating new manufacturing and engineering jobs across the country.
Nationwide, she added, there are 288,000 jobs making clean vehicle technologies and a rollback would put those jobs at risk.
“These advancements pay for themselves and then keep saving Americans more money at the gas pump. As families save money on gas, they pump those savings back into the local economy, spurring growth. This rollback would eliminate the advancements in fuel efficiency that we’ve made,” she said.
The 2012 policy aimed to get the average gas mileage of vehicles sold in the U.S. to 50 miles-per-gallon by 2025. If successful, the rollback will make an average of 37 mpg the requirement.
At least a part of the Trump Administration’s argument for the roll-back is safety. They claim that cleaner, more fuel efficient cars will cost more, forcing consumers to buy older model used cars, which they say are less safe than new cars.
Lawsuit
California, the District of Columbia, and 16 other states, including Virginia, have already filed a lawsuit, calling the rollbacks “unlawful.”
Nationally, the reaction of those who work in conservation and the environment have been less than positive.
Luke Tonachel, director for clean vehicles and fuels for the National Resource Defense Council, wrote in a blog post that “The Trump administration is moving to roll back crucial protections for our air and health, all so it can take more than $170 billion out of the pockets of drivers and give it to Big Oil.”
Bob Keefe, executive director of the national, nonpartisan business group E2 (Environmental Entrepreneurs), said, “This groundless ruling ignores auto industry experts, business leaders, and American consumers who overwhelmingly support strong clean car standards. Once again, a short-sighted decision from the Trump administration will have long-term consequences – threatening the livelihoods of 650,000 Americans who build cleaner, more fuel-efficient vehicles and the parts that make them run.”
Pascarosa said Virginians deserve clean, healthy air, and that local environmental agencies will be watching closely to see if the Trump Administration will refocus the EPA on its mission to protect our health and the environment.