West Coast leaders blast EPA emission standards rollback
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown released a joint statement Monday with other West Coast leaders in reaction to the Trump administration’s decision to reduce vehicle emissions standards.
The change, announced by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, weakens pollution and efficiency rules for new passenger cars and trucks, which they said is expected put the U.S. at an economic disadvantage as the international auto market pursues new innovations.
“As members of the Pacific Coast Collaborative and representing a West Coast region of more than 55 million people with a combined GDP of $3 trillion, the governors of California, Washington and Oregon, and the mayors of Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland, Portland and Seattle speak today in unified opposition to the federal decision to weaken the national fuel efficiency standards for model year 2022-2025 light-duty vehicles.
“This move sets us back from years of advancements by the automotive industry put in motion by states that took the lead in setting emission standards. These standards have cleared the haze and smog from our cities and reversed decades of chronic air pollution problems, while putting more money in consumers’ pockets.
“Our job as governors and mayors is to boost our region’s economic opportunities and to make our cities and states cleaner and healthier for our residents and businesses. This decision does the exact opposite, making America more dependent on oil while putting more lives at risk from pollution and shortchanging consumers at the pump.
“We believe that strong vehicle fuel economy standards not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve air quality, but also make us competitive in the growing global market for clean cars. The nation is on track to meet the current standards and will not change course at the expense of our economic strength, health and quality of life.”
Jointly signed by:
California Governor Jerry Brown
Oregon Governor Kate Brown
Washington Governor Jay Inslee
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti
San Francisco Mayor Mark Farrell
Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler
Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan
Meanwhile, Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., released the following statement after Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt announced that the agency would roll back fuel economy targets for cars that were set to go into effect between now and 2025:
“Scott Pruitt is conducting a shameless assault on public health, our climate, and American consumers to make his friends in industry happy. And let’s be clear the price Scott Pruitt and Donald Trump are willing to pay for that industry support. They’re taking money out of Americans’ pockets. These fuel economy standards would have saved consumers hundreds of billions of dollars at the pump. They’re ok with more childhood asthma, since these standards would have cut down on air pollutants that contribute to thousands of asthma attacks per year. And they’re willing to see more severe droughts, floods, wildfires, devastating hurricanes and the other effects of the climate chaos being driven by carbon pollution, of which transportation is now the top source in the U.S.
“The only way it makes sense to scrap these fuel standards is if you are determined to do the fossil fuel industry’s bidding, no matter the expense to the rest of America. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what Scott Pruitt’s tenure at the EPA has been all about.”
