{"id":19281,"date":"2019-02-21T15:40:15","date_gmt":"2019-02-21T20:40:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/?p=19281"},"modified":"2019-02-21T16:29:34","modified_gmt":"2019-02-21T21:29:34","slug":"trump-administration-ends-talks-with-california-presses-ahead-with-clean-car-standards-rollback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/2019\/02\/21\/trump-administration-ends-talks-with-california-presses-ahead-with-clean-car-standards-rollback\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump administration ends talks with California, presses ahead with Clean Car Standards rollback"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"EDF attorney Erin Murphy co-authored this post\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

The Trump administration announced today<\/a> that it will end negotiations with California and press ahead with its attempts to roll back America\u2019s successful Clean Car Standards<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Rolling back the Clean Car Standards would increase pollution<\/a> and raise costs<\/a>\u00a0for American families. The administration\u2019s justification for weakening these safeguards is based on a deeply flawed and biased analysis<\/a> that contradicts the technical progress the auto industry is making to reduce pollution. An earlier expose<\/a> highlighted the roll of the oil industry in pushing and benefiting from the administration\u2019s rollback.<\/p>\n

State leadership under attack<\/strong><\/p>\n

The administration says<\/a> it is pressing ahead with its attacks on long-standing state authority<\/a>\u00a0to enforce tougher standards than those implemented at the federal level.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Over the last half century, state leadership has played a key role in spurring the development and deployment of clean car solutions like smog-fighting catalytic converters.<\/p>\n

Under long-standing provisions in the Clean Air Act, California has authority to set its own vehicle pollution standards, and other states are authorized to adopt these standards. Today more than a third of U.S. new car sales are covered by the coalition of states that have committed to protective clean car standards: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Washington, and Vermont.<\/p>\n

Automaker\u00a0public comments<\/a>\u00a0recognize this history and have committed to working with California to build a path forward.<\/p>\n

The administration\u2019s proposal to roll back the Clean Car Standards would stifle these successful state-led programs, while needlessly creating uncertainty for all parties.<\/p>\n

The administration\u2019s rollback will cost Americans at the gas pump <\/strong><\/p>\n

With strong clean car standards, Americans save hard-earned money at the gas pump.<\/p>\n

An\u00a0analysis by M.J. Bradley & Associates<\/a>\u00a0found that with the current Clean Car Standards in place, owners of model year 2025 cars would see net savings of\u00a0up to $5,000<\/strong>\u00a0over the lifetime of their cars compared to model year 2020 vehicles, and trucks owners could save\u00a0up to $8,000<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The vast majority of families who finance their car purchase will start saving money as soon as they drive a car off the lot. For all families, their savings continue as long as they own their vehicle.<\/p>\n

In contrast, the M.J Bradley report finds that the Trump administration\u2019s proposed rollback would cost Americans in every state. With the anticipated rollback, an average family will spend\u00a0$200 more every year<\/strong>, and could spend as much as\u00a0$500 more every year <\/strong>if gas prices rise \u2014 with low-income and long-commuting Americans particularly hard hit.<\/p>\n

The administration\u2019s <\/strong>own analysis<\/strong><\/em> shows a clean cars rollback will cost jobs<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Trump administration\u2019s own analysis finds that its effort to weaken clean car standards is a job\u00a0loser<\/em>. That\u2019s right \u2013 the administration\u2019s own assessment of its proposed rollback found that it would\u00a0cost 60,000 jobs<\/strong>\u00a0(Table VII-5; page 784 and 785<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Losing 60,000 jobs under President Trump\u2019s plan stands in stark contrast to the progress made since the adoption of the Clean Car Standards. This program has coincided with\u00a0record years of vehicle sales<\/a>\u00a0and the addition of\u00a0700,000 auto industry jobs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0United Automobile Workers<\/a>\u00a0has noted that their members \u201cknow firsthand\u201d that these standards \u201chave spurred investments in new products that employ tens of thousands of our members.\u201d The group\u2019s president,\u00a0Dennis Williams<\/a>, stated that he did not support the administration\u2019s efforts to rollback these standards:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had an agreement \u2026 I don\u2019t think that we ought to be rolling back the standards. I think we ought to use some common sense here.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 60,000 job loss figure is likely low because it fails to account for the cost of ceding innovation and technology leadership to other countries. China is now the dominant market for global vehicles sales, and its long-term commitment to zero-emission vehicles remains strong.<\/p>\n

The next generation of American automotive jobs will be at companies that lead the global transition to zero-emission vehicles. For example, Synapse Energy Economics recently found that embracing vehicle electrification by itself stands to create \u2013 for Ohio alone \u2013 more than\u00a09,000 jobs and $900 million in annual Gross Domestic Product<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A broad coalition supports the existing Clean Car Standards<\/strong><\/p>\n

Two weeks ago, a strong coalition filed in court<\/a> to defend the existing clean cars program. These parties are challenging ex-EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt\u2019s April 2018 Final Determination concluding that the Clean Car Standards should be rolled back \u2014 a decision which obligated EPA to weaken these protections.<\/p>\n

Parties that filed in court include:<\/p>\n