Trump moves to roll back Obama emission standards

[Miles Archer]

Trump moves to roll back Obama emission standards



http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/400036-trump-submits-rule-to-weaken-iconic-obama-car-efficiency-standards

The Trump administration rolled out a plan Thursday to weaken the Obama administration’s aggressive fuel economy and global warming standards for cars and strip California of its ability to determine its own vehicle regulations for greenhouse gas emissions.

In a major rebuke of a key pillar of former President Obama’s legacy, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of Transportation (DOT) declared that the heightened emissions standards set to take effect for cars built from 2021 and 2026 are unreasonable for both economic and safety reasons.

The Obama administration set the standards in 2012 as part of a set of rules meant to intensify from 2017 to 2026.

Instead, the EPA and DOT are now proposing freezing the standards at their planned 2020 level, canceling any future strengthening.

[dalton99a]

1. This is going to fuck up the automobile industry

[DFW]

2. It isn't exactly going to slow down climate change, either

It appears that Trump is trying to erase everything Obama ever accomplished. The good of the country is a secondary consideration to this goal. Putin must be laughing his head off. "Why did we even bother to build all those stupid, expensive missiles? Hack a few computers, flip one election, and the USA is toast. Who knew it would be so easy?"

[machoneman]

3. Maybe not.

Methinks the makers will straddle the line (or keep targeting the Obama-era standards) as a.) they know this will be tied up in the courts for some time and b.) the next administration can and likely will quickly can his stupid move here. The goals btw will take years of development to reach yet if the makers cease efforts now they won't be able to catch up later when we fire the Dotard at the polls! to

[dalton99a]

4. I don't see how it can survive a court challenge:

http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-hiltzik-trump-autos-20180402-story.html

At the same time, Pruitt implied that he's prepared to revoke the waiver, implemented in 2010, allowing California to set its own efficiency standard. Since a dozen states have accepted California's standards wholly or in part, California's standards effectively govern as much as 35% of the nationwide auto market.

But revoking California's waiver won't be easy. California's right to apply for a waiver was specifically and uniquely written into the Clean Air Act. The act requires the EPA to grant the waiver unless the state's case is "arbitrary and capricious."

The full waiver was finalized by the Obama administration after years of negotiations and study. "There's a pretty meaty administrative record the Obama administration developed," Deborah A. Sivas, an expert on this aspect of environmental law at Stanford, told me Monday. Moreover, she says, the Clean Air Act requires the EPA to defer to California.

"The burden is on the EPA administrator to show why the waiver should not be granted," Sivas says. "He has an extra high burden in this case."

In other words, Pruitt would have to develop his own record justifying revocation of the waiver. Any revocation would then be subject to litigation from California, other states and other plaintiffs that would be sure to stretch out for years.

"The big dilemma for the industry is what does this uncertainty do to your production planning process," Sivas observes. "This doesn't give you certainty as to what your targets are. I'm not sure that in the long run it helps the industry to have the administration tossing grenades into the system."