17 States Sue the EPA for Weak Auto Rules – Here’s Why It’s Important
June 2018
California has had tougher anti-pollution rules for cars than many other states. Those rules made it easier for new technologies such as un-leaded gasoline (petrol) and catalytic converters to gain traction.
And under Obama, officials merged those higher standards into the national ones by raising the federal benchmarks.
The result? Less-polluting cars = cleaner air and fewer greenhouse gas emissions. That’s good news for our health and for climate change or global warming.
What’s Changed in the Auto Rules?
The Trump administration has reneged on the deal. They want lower standards so the auto industry can pollute more. So California and 16 other states are combining to sue the EPA.
Why Are These Auto Rules Important?
Of course, the EPA is being sued by several states for various good reasons. But this lawsuit is important.
Clean air is massively important, and that’s what’s at stake.
But the people who live in those 17 states are important to the auto industry too – because they buy a massive 43 percent of all new cars sold in the country.
I hope they win – we need cleaner cars!
The original post is below if you want further details.
In a news conference on Tuesday announcing the lawsuit, California Governor Jerry Brown took aim at EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt.
“States representing 140 million Americans are getting together to sue Outlaw Pruitt — not Administrator Pruitt, but Outlaw Pruitt,” Brown said. Without laws to mandate action, “We’re losing our battle on climate change,” he added.
For a long time, California has had tougher pollution rules for cars than the rest of the United States. Those restrictions played an enabling role in the development of technological improvements like unleaded gasoline and catalytic converters. During the Obama Administration, officials made a deal to merge California’s standards into the national ones by raising the federal benchmarks.
President Trump’s administration has said it is reneging on that deal. This week’s lawsuit posits that that violates the EPA’s own rules.
“The evidence is irrefutable: Today’s clean car standards are achievable, science-based, and a boon for hardworking American families,” said California Attorney General Xavier Becerra in a statement.
The 17 states — and the District of Columbia — that are suing the EPA are big: People living in those states buy 43 percent of all new cars sold in the country.
This isn’t the first time California has sued over environmental rollbacks. It’s the 32nd lawsuit Becerra has filed against the Trump administration.
This story was originally published by Grist with the headline California, D.C., and 16 other states are suing the EPA over its attempt to weaken auto rules. on May 2, 2018.
Original source: https://grist.org/briefly/california-d-c-and-16-other-states-are-suing-the-epa-over-its-attempt-to-weaken-auto-rules/
I don’t even want to get started here and feel like I have to be careful of what I say as everything can be tracked but I left California in 1999 because I could taste the air and it tasted like acid. I had lived with smokers for 40 years and was already worried about my lungs even though I did not smoke. But I’m finding out that more of us have lung problems from years of using household cleaners. My mother died from Pulmonary Fibrosis and my sister has it as well. It’s slow and there is no cure. No one survives it. Last October I was in the doctors office because of fatigue. My doctor mentioned that there was some interstitial “fluffiness” in my lungs in 2015 when I had bronchitis. (no one mentioned it then) They x-rayed again and found more. Then there were appointments with a pulmonologist and a CT scan. So 2 weeks before Christmas, the diagnosis was final. I too have Pulmonary Fibrosis. So you see, I have no tolerance for this administrations roll back of air quality or environmental standards. The man makes me sick in general and I’d like to see him gasping for breath at the end of his life. Ok, you got me started. Sorry. You can delete this. I was happy to read about the Red Cross and the technology that saved so many lives. Keep up the good work. So many of us are trying to get rid of this man from office but it seems he has great support. I just don’t understand.
Oh Marlene, that’s just terrible news about your health, I’m so sorry. I’m just so appalled that anyone, anywhere in the world, can roll-back or cut safety regulations of any type. I too grew up with my parents and later my siblings smoking, and my lungs are not good. We know so much more now than we used to about workplace dangers, smoking and more – we should be putting more regulations in place to protect our health, not less.
Living outside the US, I don’t think anyone believed the current incumbent would ever be elected. Whenever the topic comes up in conversation with friends, we just shake our heads in wonder at what’s happening. I too have no idea why there is such great support for him and his methods – and I certainly wouldn’t be sorry if he had ill-health. I just don’t know what to say.