President Donald Trump announced on Thursday, February 12, that he would formally repeal a 17-year-old environmental finding that allowed the federal government to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from cars, trucks, power plants and other sources.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, under then-President Barack Obama, reversed the 2009 threat finding — effectively ending the legal basis for supporting regulation of carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and other greenhouse gases that scientists and environmentalists say contribute to climate change.
That means automakers may no longer be expected or required to design vehicles aimed at reducing those pollutants or embracing the production of electric vehicles based on regulations aimed at preventing gases that contribute to global warming.
“Today’s action is consistent with the EPA’s previous announcement that it intends to repeal and correct some of the problematic emissions regulations implemented under the previous administration,” said John Bozella, president and CEO of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a Washington trade group. Major automakers and suppliers.
“The U.S. auto industry is focused on preserving vehicle choice for consumers, keeping the industry competitive, and staying on a long-term path to lower emissions and cleaner vehicles,” he said.
Natural Resources Defense Council President and CEO Manish Bapna environmentalists condemned the change, saying, “This reprehensible and destructive action by the Trump EPA cannot go forward without a fight. We will see them in court – and we will win.” Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel added that the federal government is “ignoring its own scientific findings and abdicating its clear responsibility to address greenhouse gas pollution,” putting public safety at risk.
Trump called the reversal “the single largest regulatory action in American history” and said the price of a new American car or truck would drop “closer to $3,000” on average, while other officials put the per-vehicle savings closer to $2,400. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said the change would save American taxpayers $1.3 trillion in fewer regulations, though he added that the federal government would continue to regulate pollutants such as lead, particulate matter or soot and carbon monoxide.
“Automakers can once again build what Americans want,” Zeldin said. He announced that with the change, the EPA is ending a provision that gave automakers credits toward emissions goals that led to many new vehicles that stopped and restarted auto engines after the vehicle stopped moving.
Zeldin called that feature “almost universally” hated, but the reversal of the 2009 discovery could affect other features and changes as well. For example, greenhouse gas regulations helped lead to more aerodynamic and lighter vehicles. Asked if the changes could affect public health, Trump said, “Don’t worry about it.”
Zeldin said the Obama EPA bypassed the Clean Air Act’s requirements to address concerns by “some of the most extreme climate scaremongers” to make the 2009 findings, and that the change would have kept regulators in line with the law written by Congress. But while the Clean Air Act does not specifically call for regulating the greenhouse gases in question, it does call for the EPA to regulate pollutants more generally if they are found to affect public health.
While the Trump administration’s decision was intended for a court challenge, it still faces an uncertain path. In 2006, the US Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision that under the Clean Air Act, the EPA was required to regulate greenhouse gas pollutants if they were found to endanger public health by contributing to climate change.
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However, three of the four dissenting justices — Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas — believed the EPA did not need to make such a finding and are now part of a 6-3 conservative majority on the court that has ruled against some federal regulatory authorities in recent years as bureaucratic overreach.
“The EPA is killing the single biggest step any nation has taken to save oil, save consumers money at the pump and fight global warming,” said Dan Baker, director of the Center for Biodiversity’s Safe Climate Transportation Campaign.
“American families will suffer long-term losses so that giant auto and oil companies can pocket short-term profits. They’re popping champagne corks at OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) and GM (General Motors) headquarters, but also in Beijing, where China’s electric vehicles will have no competition in the U.S. car market,” Baker added.
The decision continues a long line of actions taken by Trump to fight regulations imposed by automakers to limit greenhouse gas emissions and promote EV production and sales in the US. In December, Trump proposed sharply rolling out mile-per-gallon standards overseen by the Department of Transportation and mile-per-gallon standards adopted by the Biden administration that were expected to fuel EV production. His administration has also moved to repeal a waiver allowing California and other states to adopt stricter air pollution standards for cars and trucks under the Clean Air Act, though that is also the subject of litigation.
Contact Todd Spangler: tspangler@freepress.com. Follow him on X @tsspangler.
This story has been updated.
This article originally appeared in the Detroit Free Press: Trump Dumps Regulation of Greenhouse Gases on Cars and Trucks
