Skye Borden
Environmental groups lament feds’ decision to repeal Clean Car Standards
Media Contacts
Today, the Trump administration announced new vehicle emission guidelines which roll back the existing Clean Car Standards. Preliminary calculations indicate this move could increase global warming emissions by 2.2. billion metric tons.
Skye Borden of Environment Montana, David Merrill of the Sierra Club, and Michelle Uberuaga of Mom’s Clean Air Force released the following statement in response:
“Rolling back the clean car standards is the wrong direction for Montana.
The clean car standards are the most common sense and effective national policy we have on the books to reduce the carbon pollution that contributes to climate change. Transportation is now the country’s largest source of greenhouse gas emissions, and cars, SUVs, and pickup trucks contribute the most within this sector. If implemented, the standards would double the fuel economy and cut global pollution in half for vehicles sold in 2025.
Rolling back America’s clean car standards will also cost families money. Montanans have already saved more than $120 million at the pumphttps://environmentmontana.org/resources/mte/benefits-clean-car-standards thanks to the lower existing standards. Consumer’s Union found that, if the standards were fully implemented in 2025, consumers would save $3,200 per car and $4,800 per truck over the lifetime of their vehicle.
The auto industry has always been a leader in innovation, starting from the concept of the American assembly line. To date, automakers have met the clean car standards and by all accounts we’re preparing to meet the new ones. In fact, independent data shows that they have the technology to continue meeting the standards in the future.
We need to reject this short-sighted move, reverse course immediately, and once again become a world leader on innovative solutions to the unfolding climate crisis.”
For more information on the benefits of the clean car standards in Montana, please read this recently produced fact sheet by the Environment Montana Research & Policy Center.
