NRDC’s Gina McCarthy: Trump’s Attack on Cleaner Cars “Makes No Sense’’
WASHINGTON – The Trump administration today took steps to gut vehicle pollution and fuel efficiency standards, which reduce massive amounts of toxic air and climate pollution from the nation’s cars and trucks.
The following is a statement from Gina McCarthy, president and CEO of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC):
“Doesn’t this administration have more important things to do right now? Rather than focusing on fighting this global pandemic, it’s undermining efforts to address another major health threat.
“Gutting the clean car standards makes no sense. It will harm the air we breathe, stall progress in fighting the climate crisis and increase the cost of driving. The only winner from this action is the oil industry, which wants us stuck driving dirty gas guzzlers as long as possible.
“I am hoping that automakers know better than to go along with this illegal, ill-conceived and dangerous rollback. The clean cars program helped them bounce back from the 2008 financial crisis and achieve record sales. They should join us in fighting back.
“We’ll be seeing the Trump administration in court.”
Background
These standards have already resulted in a reduction of 455 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions – the equivalent of about 100 million vehicles driving for a year – and saved drivers $86 billion at the pump, according to EPA’s own data. Polling shows that an overwhelming majority of Americans opposes rolling back these commonsense standards.
For more information on how misguided the Trump administration’s attack is, see this blog from Luke Tonachel.
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The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Since 1970, our lawyers, scientists, and other environmental specialists have worked to protect the world's natural resources, public health, and the environment. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Bozeman, MT, and Beijing. Visit us at www.nrdc.org and follow us on Twitter @NRDC.