Dear Scott,
If you plan to roll back emission standards of passenger cars, be prepared to refund Volkswagen about $ 1,000,000,000.
8
Let's not forget that all this has nothing to do with Trump, and is merely the implementation of what Fox News and the GOP have told us they wanted to do for years already now.
Trump simply executes what the GOP asks him to do, and gets to give all his "friends" nice DC jobs in return - apart from constantly getting high celebrity ratings of course, and it's not clear which of both he loves most (although it's pretty obvious that it's TV ratings where he wants to win, certainly not polls or the vote of the majority of the American people).
And it's corrupt attitudes like that that have created the current and unprecedentedly rapid global warming in the first place.
The fight against Trump has become not merely a fight for the future of our children (who will now be burdened by massive deficits), it has become a fight for the future of our entire planet.
Fortunately, America's entire history has shown, time and again, that "yes we can" win against corruption. All that is needed is that we ALL engage, and don't wait for the ideal candidate to appear before we start voting and respectfully debating fake news with those who still tend to believe those things.
Now is the time to act!!
8
More fuel efficient vehicles=less pollution
Less pollution=healthier Americans
Healthier Americans=less profit for Big Pharma?
7
Right....relaxing fuel efficiency standards is really going to encourage a European who pays $6.16 a gallon for gasoline to buy that American muscle car that gets 18 miles to the gallon....smart move Mr. "very stable genius".
8
The only thing that give me hope is that the move to clean energy and alternative energy makes economic sense. Consumers want clean air and good mileage, even conservatives. So, I hope we've gone so far down that road that car manufacturers don't really have a choice, regardless of the regulations. Maybe?
5
Just Making America Great Again. And in his munificence, doing his part to make the whole planet great again, too!
2
Note to America's children:
You are abandoned.
American society could protect your lungs from asthma caused by vehicular air pollution.
American society could protect your lungs from cancer causing fossil fuel particulates.
American society could protect your brain from Alzheimer's dementia caused by fossil fuel pollution.
American society could protect your home & future from the ravages of climate change caused by gas-guzzling American vehicles.
But even a minimal protection, gained by moving to smaller more fuel efficient cars (as implemented in other countries) has been deemed DOA by this administration. Regrettably, no surprise here, since the majority of American society & its leaders also accept school shootings using automatic weapons of war. Nothing is done.
America's children, you are abandoned. The parents & grandparents of America will not join together to do everything they can to protect you. The "me generation" will not be inconvenienced in any way.
5
Make America Dirty Again!
There is no good reason to roll back these regulations. We have efficient reliable cars with excellent performance precisely because of pollution controls, not the opposite.
8
I'm not sure why Scott Pruitt is the one making the case for big business being burdened with regulations, he is, after all with the EPA. He should be addressing the environmental concerns of lessening the current standards. And, who really believes that the cost of vehicles will be more affordable? What is the definition of more affordable? It is simply a talking point with no backing.
We should be leading the way with innovation, instead we are digressing, only to allow more progressive-minded countries to take the lead and bury us.
5
I thought Trump was fastidious about being clean.
3
I am beyond disgusted and distraught at Trump's catering to special interests at the expense of average and poor Americans. It's touted that our economy is flourishing, but whose?
The oil, natural gas and coal barons have cornered the market on biggest earnings at the expense of Americans. Thanks to Congress' tax plan, they received a 12% permanent corporate tax deduction and an individual tax reduction.
Who pays for America's upkeep now? The working poor and middle class.
Our Federal lands are being leased to coal, fracking and mining firms, which have well-documented histories of water pollution and land destruction. Trump wants to permit oil driĺling along all
our coasts regardless of harm to our fishing industry and food supply.
Now, he wants to roll back air pollution controls. Does anyone remember the enormous number of childhood deaths from pollution-caused asthma? Air that looked like fog?
The rich are doing well now, as
Trump follows, to the letter, coal baron Bob Murray's white paper presented to Trump on March 1, 2017, (Link: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/01/09/climate/document-Murray-E.... It tells Trump what to do.
But even the rich must eat and breathe. How do they plan to protect themselves from the damage their corporations do?
Trump and pals gave the U.S. a no-win plan. Everything they offers ends in death, except for the rich. He, and his Republican cronies, must be voted out.
5
I will never buy a vehicle from a manufacturer who rolls back the rules. Now it's up to the auto manufacturers to do the right thing.
12
Why is the Trump administration trying to kill our children?
7
Pruitt must be frantic, trying to do all he has promised for the fossil fuel industry before his sleazy relationships with various energy lobbies begin oozing out of his secure bunker. What he lacks in ethics, he more than makes up for in paranoia.
If the EPA's acronym actually stands for anything, it would remove Pruitt (following proper federal abatement procedures), who is clearly the most toxic substance in the country right now (and that's saying something). His embrace of the energy lobby makes Shulkin's indiscretions seem like stepping on cracks in the sidewalk.
Maybe it's a race against time for Pruitt to secure the soft landing in the fossil fuel industry he's been promised, and the indiscriminate dumping of campaign cash on his (delusional) future embed as industry shill posing as a public servant.
3
I’ve never seen an administration so committed to destruction,and unwilling to look towards a healthy future for the citizenry. We can’t vote these corporate lackeys out quickly enough,before they send us hurtling backward.
6
I will definitely not buy a new car from the US auto dealers, who are pushing this stupid, selfish policy. So sick of Pruitt's dismantling of the EPA and his theft of taxpayer funds.
8
Let's all keep our fingers crossed that Scott Pruitt is not head of the EPA much longer.... He is a scourge.
7
Now even more people will be mean to poor Scott Pruitt in airports. He'll likely have to start flying in private jets at taxpayer expense to protect his delicate feelings.
7
I wish that Trump and Scott Pruitt would read the comments on this article.
2
Regulations bad, dirty air goooood! - Scott Pruitt (right now he is more of a threat to us than Putin).
3
Trump supporters, please explain how this is Trump looking out for the health and well-being of your children, grand-children and grand children? Please open your eyes to the environmental degradation that this president is promoting. His claim of helping the auto industry is dubious at best. And he can't stop the universal trend towards cleaner and more efficient technologies. Even if he's right on the auto-industry, do you think it's worth it for a few more jobs?
1
What a strange choice of words by the NY Times for this headline: E.P.A. Prepares to Roll Back Rules Requiring Cars to Be "Cleaner" and More Efficient.
Personally, I agree with the EPA. Cars should be taken to the carwash at least weekly.
1
Trump hates California so of course he's going after us. I was raised in L.A. in the 60s-70s. I still remember our summer "smog-set" when the sun would slowly dip below our brown horizons. The 1970 higher standards completely changed the CA landscape and sunsets. We'll fight Trump just like we're fighting him on immigration, border walls and sanctuary state status.
10
The strongest economy in the world will be doomed if the country's inhabitants are choking on fetid air, surrounded by sewage- and chemical-filled waterways, and subjected to an overall environment that can no longer sustain life. If this is making America "great again," I want no part of it.
5
I hope most people do not buy into this madness, and look to buy fuel efficient or better yet, electric cars that are absolutely faster and very fun to drive!!
4
All electric cars are an expensive waste of money for most people with their limited range and long recharge times. I wouldn't want to be the owner/drive of one of those if caught in an unexpected traffic jam on an LA freeway or the Lincoln tunnel in NYC and the battery pooped out. However hybrids do address the issue of limited cruising range effectively. Until all electrics can reach a cruising range of three to four hundred miles and a recharge time equivalent to the time it takes to fill up with gas (about 10 minutes), they will have a very limited market. And, how is the power to recharge those all electrics generated? Primarily it comes from fossil fueled plants, but wind, solar and hydro do make an increasing although small contribution. BTW for those who are interested, Texas a major oil state is by far the leader in wind power followed by Iowa which gets 25% (and increasing) of its electricity from wind generators.
1
How are the Koch brothers supposed to market their coal-fired cars with these restrictions in place?
6
Judging from the number of comments at this time (over 1400) there is a lot of sympathy for the environment. Don't think your efforts are over. There is a ton of money going into deceiving targeted voters. Right now there are paid staff thinking up new ways to deceive and executing their plans. Support Media Matters!
4
We really are giving up on leading the world. The way forward is, obviously, to leave as small a footprint as possible. This administration is set on doing exactly the opposite. The people of the world are watching, and will, if they haven't already, decide that the US has abandoned it's role as the light unto other nations.
This is how empires and superpowers die.
5
As a child of the fifties I well remember the air pollution that would hang over the city. And then there were the smog alerts. If you want to see what this looked like take a trip to Mexico city. When I first went there 40 years ago the descent from the air was something. Beautiful blue into brown and grey. Do we really want that? We do have some control over this. BOYCOTT!
3
Having grown up in a filthy polluted Pittsburgh back when the steel mills spewed Sulfur Dioxide and the rivers were uninhabitable, I have advocated for stronger emissions standards and fuel economy since George McGovern. After the fuel crisis of the Carter years, car companies started to talk fuel economy, but the lead time for such vehicles was 4 years. Reagan got elected, all that got scrapped, and the era of land yacht gas guzzlers went into full swing. FINALLY years later under Obama, the car industry got the memo, as consumers began demanding more fuel efficient, cleaner cars. This is so depressing and devastating news for our planet. Once again a Republican administration suppresses the greater good for short term profit, but what is most horrifying is the return to the antiquated cavalier notion that we don’t have to care for the devastation of our shared living space. This is NOT making America great, EVER.
6
At the end of the day, while US manufacturers will slack off with slackened fuel economy standards, the rest of the world will not. If your competitors get 30 mpg and you are struggling to get 10, you are already at a competitive disadvantage.
I have better things to do with my money than waste it on more gas than I need to to get me from point a to point b and I’m sure I’m not alone with this viewpoint.
3
I don't think EPA's "plan" will work in the long run. The EU, Canada, and probably China will argue for more efficient autos. Then in 2020 a Democrat will win and we'll rejoin the rest of the world.
3
I'm afraid it's time for a name change for the E.P.A. I suggest E.D.A. - Environmental Destruction Agency.
5
Some of us remember when the Cuyahoga River actually caught fire in 1969. Others remember cities filled with smog. But the US capitalist car manufacturers should remember the 1980's when the US eased up on MPG standards while Japan thought we were serious. The result…the Japanese kept making lower MPG cars and took over the whole industry. Now there's something the GOP should keep in mind….but they won't.
6
If we all do not want the smog choking air of the 1950's to come back, then we can choose cars that have low emissions. Let the consumer lead this and to heck with Pruitt and his bedmates.
3
Unfortunately, rolling back all of these EPA protections will result in few to no cars with low emissions. Why spend the money on manufacture when it's no longer required?
The long moral arc of justice to the environment just took a major detour.
2
The real danger in the EPAs proposal isn't the regulation rollback as much as the attempt to end California's historical ability to enforce stricter rules. The GOP is all about state rights when it benefits them, but all about eliminating states rights when it doesn't. Pure hypocrisy.
The Obama rules were not extra-ordinary either. The 54.5 mpg standard (corresponding to real life 40 mpg) is definitely achievable, but in the era of cheaper gas prices again, GM and Ford wants the flexibility to shift production and fully chase the big profit margins from the truck/suv market (which has both real demand from consumers, but also has induced demand from increased supply and lower prices/incentives given to sell).
5
Cars cannot be forced to do anything. Their builders can.
3
Don't the people who benefit from this change breathe the same air and drink the same water as the rest of us? Who could possibly think this is a good idea?
7
Consumers need to buy foreign. Forget American made. This rule change is just plain stupid.
5
Guilty of crimes against humanity!
(but that does not bring our climate back to normal)
2
Drain the Swamp, Scott, drain the Swamp!! That is why Trump was elected.
1
Mr. Pruitt is well known in Oklahoma as one the slimmest Alligator swimming in the oil swamp by repeating suing the government over fracking regulation in limiting the home owner’s liability insurance for fracking-induced earth quick and it is no surprise he is again taking money from his old pals again in bigger and higher places.
6
Hmmm. Let's see, would consumers be better off if they paid a little more for more fuel efficient cars or would savings from less expensive gas guzzlers be more than offset by the cost of health consequences of smog and air pollution as well as clean-up and recovery costs of more natural disasters made worse by climate change (taxpayers have to pay for these also). Turns out, the Office of Management and Budget released a report a few days ago which concluded that the benefits of regulations exceed costs. OMB concluded that rules with the highest benefits and cost benefit ratio were from EPA rules aiming to improve air quality. OMB was assessing rules enacted some time ago, but the same logic should be applied to the current situation. Unwinding recently passed fuel efficiency vehicle standards is likely to be a bad deal for consumers and taxpayers.
6
If we are this stupid, we deserve to become extinct.
4
I agree. I hope extinction comes soon and quickly. More likely it will be drawn out and horribly painful. I just read an essay by John Luther Adams, the composer, about the degradation of his home state of Alaska. Heartbreaking.
3
Well on the way to joining the Dinosaurs, now that Trump Troglodytes hold sway in Washington!
1
Good luck to California if rhey promulgate their own rules. They are part of the United States and such regulations would violate constitutional obligations to respect federal laws and regulations.
Besides the fact that Obama’s efficiency goals were a pipe dream.
California already has had its own rules for years in compliance with federal laws and regulations. The article talks about a federally-sanctioned waiver that the Trump Adm. or Congress could seek to eliminate but it's there and legal for the moment.
5
Oh but wait - aren't the Republicans in FAVOR of LESS federal power and MORE state independence? Oh I guess that's only when it suits their purposes. I don't know what universe you live in, Juergen, but it sure isn't the one I live in.
2
Poison the air and water. Then remove access
to affordable health care. Stop funding
for Planned Parenthood. Reduce housing and
SNAP. Buy as many guns/ammunition as you can afford. What a great country.
4
When can we sue Mr. Pruitt as being dangerous to our health?
4
why do these people, including the automakers hate America??? When will the few grown-ups in Congress take our country back before it is completely and irreparably harmed?
3
It bears repeating: if a corporation’s sole purpose is to maximize profits for its shareholders, at whatever cost to its customers, employees, competitors, and the public at large, and a corporation is a “person,” then by definition that “person” is a sociopath.
5
American automobile industry is pretty much done except for trucks. After owning a Chevy and owning a Toyota there is no comparison, and for what I get as standard features at a lower price why would I buy American? My Chevy was 100% made in USA and nothing but problems. .
3
Get ready for cancer rates to skyrocket, after years of declines.
2
This is how you Make American Great Again Republican style!
2
One more giant step backwards on the road to making America the greatest loser in history.
2
1960 Desoto Fireflite
1966 Oldsmobile Delta 98
1972 Buick LeSabra
1978 Oldsmobile Delta 88
1983 Buick LeSabre
All total junk. Each barely lasted 5 years.
I haven’t bought an American car since 1983
1990 BMW 325 IS
2000 Lexus RX 300
2010 Lexus RX 350
All great cars.
I’ll never buy another American car anyway
7
Agreed-- if you buy American only buy high fuel efficiency and electric. This is more blood money for the oil industry. What else is new. Trump doesn't care. His is super old and will be dead soon enough. He doesn't acre abour his family or future generations. His antics with all his sleazy mistresses make that crystal clear.
3
In retrospect, bailing out the “Big 3” automakers was probably a mistake. Make America Choke Again.
1
Correction: Only 2 of the 3 were bailed out.
1
The conservative mantra was "take our country back." Well, they are taking it backward. What a disgrace.
3
The more we give up on advancing technology the faster we hand the future to the Chinese and the Europeans. While they become more competitive in sustainable technologies the Trump Admin wants to take a breather and rest on old technology. We don't have time for a breather.
2
I am beyond disgusted and distraught distraught at Trump's catering to special interests at the expense of average and poor Americans. It's touted that our economy is flourishing, but whose?
The oil, natural gas and coal barons have cornered the market on biggest earnings at the expense of Americans. Thanks to Congress' tax plan, they received a 12% permanent corporate tax deduction and an individual tax reduction. Who pays for America's upkeep now? The working poor and middle class.
Our Federal lands are being leased to coal, fracking and mining firms, which have well-documented histories of water pollution and land destruction. Trump wants to permit oour coasts regardless to harm to our fishing industry and food supply.
Now, he wants to roll back air pollution controls. Does anyone remember thr enormous number of childhood deaths due to pollution-caused asthma? Air that looked like fog?
The rich are doing well now, as
Trump follows coal baron Bob Murray's white paper presented to Trump on March 1, 2017, (Link: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/01/09/climate/document-Murray-E... to the letter.
But even the rich must eat and breathe. How do they plan to protect themselves from the damage their corporations do?
Trump and pals have the U.S. on a no-win plan. He, and Republican cronies, must be voted out.
2
In other words, American manufacturers' costs will rise as they will require TWO separate production lines: one for the 12 states signing the compact for air quality (California and the Northeast states), as well as export, and another to the Red "polluting" states.
Don't count on American car manufacturers cutting their own throats to please Pruitt, Trump...and Putin.
California, New York, Illinois, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and other large states with an interest to do so can haul this rogue administration to court and tie it up long enough for the 2018 midterms to put a brake on this assault. Trump will stay Trump- there's no fixing him, and the country will come to terms with what has happened. This is still a democracy of sorts. Money will ultimately lose. The pen will turn out to be mightier than the dollar.
1
How about an experiment? Say, we place Trump, Pruitt and the supportive kids in Congress in a room for one week where we expose them to carbon emissions. Post-test, let's measure the impact on their breathing, blood, and other physical manifestations.
1
Serviceable electric cars have been available for over five years, yet they only comprise 1% of our vehicle fleet. For the good of all humanity, American consumers must be forced to accept EV's, regardless of their frivilous preference for gas guzzlers. Obama's 54.5 mpg CAFE standard was the velvet glove approach to force car manufacturers to make 25% of their new cars electric, hoping to nudge consumer acceptance up by limiting supply of carbon-fueled monstrosities. Trump wants to drop that approach
Isn't it about time to take the gloves off and just tell consumers "You will no longer be allowed to buy a gas powered car after 2025". Many countries have done this already...why need we be so circumspect?
Its high time for those deplorable plebeians to show the proper respect for their betters and bear their assigned burden...to save the planet.
2
Always invoking Obama as the reason TrumpCo trashes the laws of our democracy is misleading.
Yes, the man hates Obama and is indeed undoing many of Obama's policies, but it's also an excuse that makes it sound as if trump has a philosophy that is different from Obama's. Trump has no philosophy beyond providing oligarchs--and himself--with more profit, more power. Obama has nothing to do with it.
4
This is another moment when Trump gets to stick it to California. I moved to Los Angeles in 1975 and lived above the Hollywood Freeway. You could not see the other side due to the thick smog. I suffered from nasal infections and my doctor said, "Welcome to LA!" So, as the rest of the industrialized world moves forward with new technology we are going to revive the dinosaur belch-fire-8-cylinder pollution machine!
3
I would really like to know why more Americans aren't outraged over this administration's all out assault on our environment. As a society, we seemed to care more about these issues twenty years ago than we do today. Why have so many Americans become so complacent about this issue? I would really like to see the Democratic Party spend more time and energy highlighting how deregulation of our environmental laws will hurt poor and working class people the hardest, and turn it into a real campaign issue.
4
Just yesterday, the Secretary-General of the UN, stated that the biggest threat to humanity is climate change. The transportation sector is a major contributor to GHG emissions. Fuel Efficiency standards adopted for vehicles in the U.S. during the Obama administration are essential for reducing GHG emissions. They are also essential for protecting human health. GHG emissions are accompanied by criteria pollutants known to harm human health. California was granted a waiver to set more stringent than the 1970 Clean Air Act required specifically because its problems with smog and related health consequences were so severe. According to the "State of the Air" report by the American Lung Association, California has made progress in cleaning up the air but still has cities and counties with the worst air quality in the country. It is not time to turn back!
2
In today's mind-made-up America, any candidate that campaigns on increasing the gas tax will be running a fool's errand.
So, instead, the new increases in road taxes come from the auto manufacturer / dealer lobbyists. They are behind the higher registration fees for electric vehicles. They also favor the introduction of a by-the-mile tax vs increasing the traditional by-the-gallon tax.
Unless citizens can overcome a self-imposed kibosh on their state legislators increasing their current by-the-gallon tax, get ready for the new, MORE COST-INTENSIVE, taxing method. Oregon's pilot program monitors odometers to tax by-the-mile and is ALSO A COUNTER-PRODUCTIVE action to the incentive of operating electric and high-mpg vehicles.
Trump wants the states taking on some of his infrastructure promises by raising more state revenue - any way they can. Trump applauds Oregon, but seems unaware that "Charging by the mile results in about a 25 percent increase in payments from drivers."
http://oregonbusinessreport.com/2018/03/trump-applauds-oregon-mileage-tax/
1
Cuz, you know, why would we want clean air? Apparently only liberals are concerned about their health?
2
WHY ... won't anyone in their "right minds" want to make cars emit dirtier emissions and make them "less efficient"? Oh ... never mind ...
1
CA and the states that have adopted the same standards are not going back. It is such a large market that the automakers will build to those standards. This is a heinous symbolic move.
2
The only way this disaster can be stopped is by turning over House and Senate to democratic majority. Then they should prevent as many of Trump executive orders as possible and not let any damaging legislation pass.
And yes, young democratic law makers should also get rid of old guard in their party.
2
Let's just hope the American people aren't as stupid.
2
If they were smart, they would use the MPG standards as a bargaining chip to get stricter tailpipe standards. After all, as the average price of gas increases (which it inevitably will over time), the market takes care of the MPG issue pretty nicely. But the GOP refuses to acknowledge that global warming is a problem, so of course they will not do that.
I think we can agree that the Trump roll back is a move in the wrong direction and that Obama had the right goals in mind. But I think it's important for consumers to know that 54.5 mpg is a fiction. The loopholes in the Obama reform are huge. And, what is represented as 54.5 mpg is grossly exaggerated. The precise number, factoring in the loopholes, is not widely agreed upon. But all estimates I have read are between 35 and 40 mpg. The notion that average emissions in 2025 will be 54.5 is grossly misleading.
Even when right-minded politicians go about improving the environment, they are not above deception. Goals for carbon emissions are similarly distorted by the universal practice of using a starting date of 2005, which is entirely illogical and deceptive and results in the appearance of false accomplishments.
If you profess vigilance on the environment, your source of information should be environmental science, not political cheerleaders.
https://e360.yale.edu/features/on_fuel_economy_efforts_us_faces_elusive_...
Re: "But within weeks of Mr. Trump’s inauguration last year, the chief executives of the nation’s Big Three auto companies met with him in the Oval Office to say that the Obama tailpipe standard was too difficult to achieve."
Simple solution: Get new chief executives! For a country that figured out how to get to the moon and back in 10 years -- 50 years ago, no less! -- figuring out how to double the fuel efficiency of its automobiles over 10 years, now, should be a cake walk.
How is it that, given the choice between being proud of its unprecedented scientific and engineering accomplishments versus being proud if its large cars, so many Americans chose the cars? What's up with that?
Oh, oh! Dirtier air. Yippee! Just what I want. This will make America so great! Just like the old days, hack, cough.
2
Yeah, it's looking more like once again Obama went way too far with zealous regulations and now big bad Trump will roll them back to more achievable standards and the NY Times will tut tut away with its hackneyed 'sky is falling' narrative. What does it care if an entire industry goes under because of arbitrarily high standards cooked up in a fantasy chamber? Let Michigan eat cake.
This is just like the farce with the Bears Ears Monument. Obama could have protected the relevant areas with a normal size park. Instead he ropes off a chunk of Utah the size of one of the East Coast states and says it can only be used for recreation. And so of course he created a backlash that undermined what he wanted to do. Of course the other party rolled that back.
By highlighting California as its ideal, this new faux progressivism is being exposed for what it really is: the affectations of the rich. California has some of the highest rates of inequality and poverty, basically by design. Because that's what the California system creates. It is about the worst place to be a middle-class person there is. Expensive everything that only the proud effete progressives can afford.
1
As I recall, Obama literally SAVED the American auto industry (certainly GM) in 2009. If the automakers are truly are supporting this rollback, I'll never buy another product from them. I'll be backing California and the other 12 colonies in this revolution.
3
This is an outrage. The citizens of the USA paid for the loans that saved the failing car companies. Now the recipients of this largess want to roll back protections for human health and the environment. Have you no shame?
5
Let say many don't believe on the impact of lack of regulations on climate change....But, do Mr. Trump and the politicians that support him believe they are immune to toxic chemicals effects? How about their brain, do they care about their brain? Do they know that several research laboratories around the world are finding important effects of fuel pollution on the increased rates of autism, neuroinflammation, and Alzheimer's disease? And how about cancer? Do they know that there are also direct correlations between fuel exposure and cancer rates? As a scientist, I feel extremely sad to see this country falling into a dark tunnel of ignorance. Power without intelligence is just a demonstration of weakness, very dangerous weakness.
6
The automobile consumers of America share responsibility for this terrible mistake. US automakers know what consumers want: big vehicles --SUVs, pickup trucks, and vans. They are practical solutions to family life and recreation, so long as one ignores their fuel inefficiency. Consequently, the automakers are caught between a regulatory rock and a market-demand hard spot. It is no surprise that the automakers scream for relief; naturally, Scott Pruitt is happy to help.
When American consumers start flocking to smaller, fuel-efficient vehicles, then the automakers will be forced to change their tune. Until then, expect more of the same. Boycott gas guzzlers, everyone! Refuse to buy vehicles that get less than 35 mpg and the world will change.
5
Surprise, Surprise! The Flat Earth administration wants to let mega-polluting industries once again have free rain in turning the environment into one huge garbage dump. Apparently having New Orleans, Houston, and Puerto Rico devastated by hurricanes of ever increasing violence is of no importance to the fools who worship profit over sanity. GOD save them!
1
HELP ! The GOP wants to gas us while Putin controls Washington...HELP SOMEONE.
2
In my lifetime, US per capita crude oil consumption, for everything from transportation to industrial use and power generation, has declined by half. But the US population has more than doubled.
Back where we started?
1
The structure of this sentence makes it appear that you want double credit. The US Oil Demand is about the same, BUT the population has doubled. Thus, per capita consumption is halved.
This is the kind of thinking which kept American auto manufacturers scrambling to catch up with the Japanese and almost led to their demise. Great thinking. If I believed in religion, I'd think that the devil had managed to get elected and was cursing the country.
3
It should be well understood why the Trump administration is fighting state efforts to make cars cleaner and more energy efficient.
This aligns with Trump’s decision to pull the US out of the Paris Agreement to address climate change.
As Senator John McCain said, “Russia is a gas station run by the mafia masquerading as a country.”
Russia benefits by climate change, and has stated as much. as they sit on a frozen tundra dependent on the sale of carbon-based fuels.
Further proof Trump is running the country to serve Putin’s interests.
7
Simply a gift to car manufacturers and the oil industry. Car prices won't come down and less fuel efficiency equals more oil profits.
3
You know there isn’t unlimited oil in the ground, right?
5
Why aren't you reporting with headlines that Pruitt is living in a DC high end condo owned by the energy lobbyist J Steven Hart's wife Vicki??? They will not reveal if he is paying rent.
5
Actually I just read he paid $50 a night when he was there.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/pruitt-paid-lobbyist-dollar50-a-night-for-...
2
In case 'reasonable persons' didn't know, those of us in our 70s and 80s grew up with leaded gas and incinerators in apartment buildings. We are still happy and healthy senior citizens. Now, stop and realize that it's your genes that will keep you alive and happy.
Great, well thought out post! I did not realize that air pollution was a good thing and that there are no worries about impacts to our health. That is awesome news. Now please excuse my while I go burn some tires in the back yard. Should I take up smoking as well?
4
Vote, vote, vote November 6, 2018 to ensure the strides America has made with environmental issues are not fully destroyed by the Trump administration who wants to go back to the 1950's and Make America great Again."
That 50's nostalgia ship sailed decades ago ...we are in 2018 with an environmental crisis upon us because of the environmental abuses from the 1950s.
Just VOTE!
10
The very last paragraph of this article should be read carefully. The US auto industry will find itself falling further and further behind Europe (mainly Germany), Japan and, in the next decade, China. China is now the biggest market for automobiles in the world. The US auto industry wants to increase short term profits by cutting its investment in research: the result will be the technological demise of the US industry.
5
In 2013, I decided to give US auto manufacturers another chance. So I purchased a 2013 Ford Escape with a 4-cylinder turbocharged engine. I had kept my 2009 BMW 328xi. The Ford Escape has been consistently an inferior vehicle. I have replaced the turbocharger and the transmission in the vehicle. On a side-by-side comparison, the BMW and the Ford Escape weigh approximately the same. Both have all wheel drive. Yet, the BMW with its larger inline 6 cylinder engine consistently gets over 30 miles per gallon at highway speeds of 80 miles per hour, not to mention the fact that the engine also has more horsepower. The Ford Escape with its puny turbocharged four-cylinder engine? I'm lucky if I can get it to break 24 miles per gallon at 80 miles per hour. US automakers are not doing themselves any favors, and with this proposal, it has only cemented my desire to never purchase one of their products again.
7
Your and others' desire for performance is a big part of the problem. You can't argue with physics. Tiny engines in small cars built low to the ground, and we've solved most of the problem. But, Americans don't want to grow up.
1
As the GOP does its happy dance I doubt they are imagining all the CO2 fumes their families will be breathing in. Breed before people once again.
1
Sorry. That should be "greed", not breed. Can't find an edit button...
1
In the world being formed by Mr. Trump and his purveyors of corporate largesse, we see good, sound policies and procedures being upended for the most specious of reasons. Sure, vehicles cost more to buy today than when I was young. But a marginal reduction in the price of a new car hardly provides a rational basis for overturning what have become accepted regulations and goals that are good for the environment. Likewise, I suppose that profit margins for automobile manufacturers would increase slightly if all of the environmental rules and regulations were erased, but I don't see any manufacturers going out of business due to the "burden" of trying to build more fuel efficient vehicles. These changes would simply reward corporate laziness and irresponsibility.
Being able to drive 55 miles on a gallon of gas, with the obvious savings on fuel, is now a bad thing? Replacing "muscle cars" with hybrids makes America effete? Increasing carbon emissions in a world with melting glaciers is now a move in the right direction for future generations? The answer to all three questions is a resounding, "No!" That is, unless the goal is to line the pockets of short-sighted, greedy corporate functionaries while disregarding the systemic damage that moving so blatantly and irresponsibly backward would bring about.
These efforts by Pruitt, Trump, et al, are shameful, and they will provide perhaps the longest lasting, and the most destructive, legacy of their regrettable rise to power.
6
the criminal activity continues and congress colludes.
impeach them all.
5
I should add to my previous post...
I have always owned Japanese brands. Recently, I've been thinking of getting a small pick up and was considering American brands. With this happening, I won't be considering American brands any longer.
4
Our yet-unborn grandchildren will never understand how we had the technology to solve the greatest challenge ever posed to humanity, yet we refused to leverage it due to short-term greed.
8
It is pretty easy to put together. Trump has a list of the things Obama did as president and is working on undoing as many things on the list as possible. The Republican Party loves this since they fiercely hated Obama even before he was sworn in. The Republican Party has turned their heads on ALL Trumps despicable behavior for that reason alone. The Republican party has to be voted out to stop the carnage, Nationally and Internationally.
4
Trumps' EPA chief Pruitt is corrupt and remains in the pocket of the fossil fuel extraction industry. He defies science and lives by the motto "after me, the deluge".
Most of the industrialized world will not follow this administration's lead into the past and will move forward, leaving the U.S. behind when we should lead. People increasingly buy fuel efficient and less polluting cars from foreign manufacturers. This will make the U.S. less important and weaker on the world stage. Americans will be worse off because of this administration's ignorance and lack of forward-looking wisdom.
Only a massive defeat of the Republicans in the mid-term election can reduce the damage the Trump Administration is doing.
6
This is more proof of the “Reverse Mode” of the Trump administration. He is crushing public safety as he de-regulates every function possible that protects our personal and financial wellbeing. This is a rabidity about GOP administrations that brings back heath issues for many and money problems for the Nation as the extremists take advantage of the GOP’s ‘open door’ policies.
1
So E.P.A. no longer stands for Environmental Protection Agency?
4
Better replace "Protection" with "Profit" with this greedy crew.
2
There are more cars and more people than at any other time in the history of this planet. So Pruitt should first run a test to determine if an increase in carbon dioxide will have any effects. Since he doesn't believe trained, qualified scientists, he can do his own test by running a hose emitting carbon dioxide into his soundproof, $40k office, and then let us know the results.
2
I look forward to the demonstration Pruitt and Trump will surely perform for us. I expect them both to breathe exclusively from the tailpipe of a running automobile for a long and uninterrupted period of time to show how harmless and innocuous the emissions are.
4
This is yet another pointless effort on the part of the Trump administration to sacrifice the health and even survival of future generations to the misperceived short-term interests and expediency of what the president thinks is his corporate and popular base. The courageous kids who have organized the NeverAgain movement and the March for Our Lives and all of us who support them should recognize this as a less violent and more incremental, but an equally real assault on their futures as gun violence in our schools. Our political and consumer behavior must focus on rewarding candidates and companies who understand the need to ensure a livable world for our children and grandchildren.
1
This is an inevitable move for the Administration. Republicans have been asking for this under the banner of "choice" since the standards were announced. It's popular with the smack Obama in the face crowd. It pleases the base as part of the "Make America great again" promise and the very large "no regulation is a good regulation" crowd. It protects the oil industry from the decreasing demand for their product efficiency standards would bring It will be expected to shore up the support of the auto unions. It draws a line in the sand against the evil state of California. It was inevitable and probably so in any Republican administration. So the consumer has to speak. So far, at least in America, few of them have. The demand for heavy inefficient vehicles is stronger than ever.
3
The US government spent $80 Billion to bail out GM and Chrysler during the financial meltdown in 2008/2009. A decade later, the Big 3 automakers are highly profitable; GM has $23 Billion cash on hand. On the other hand, what does the US taxpayer have to show for its largesse? A $11.7 Billion net loss from the bailout and a “thank you” from the Big 3 in the form of significant proposed EPA rollbacks of the Obama administration’s regulations that lowered CO2 emissions and raised fuel economy. How quickly they forget.
9
I can't fathom what the point is. The industry was selling cars like hotcakes well before this proposals was made.
3
We are in the extraordinary position that our public offices are waging war on our citizenry.
It's ironic that defenders of the Second Amendment have no weapons to resist these attacks on our health, welfare, and democratic insitutiitions.
2
“The result will be more gas-guzzling vehicles on the road, greater total gasoline consumption..." A gift to the oil companies.
2
Simply jaw-dropping... Unbelievably retrograde, and amazingly transparent in the effort to set the clock of progress back and enrich the worst, most corrupt fat-cat pals and corporations...
But the truly scary thing may be that if Trump, Pruitt, and the gang think they can act SO transparently AGAINST the public interest and get away with it, WHAT ELSE will they try to pull off -- before being pulled off the national stage, kicking and screaming, by Federal Marshalls and taken to prison following multiple convictions!
3
Incensed. Nobody remembers the photos of LA smog of the 1970's? Just another example of our nation losing it's heart and soul - money now - over the future air quality for our future generations. Disgusting.
2
This is exactly what the minority of Americans who voted for him wanted
2
Trump continues to sell our nation to the corporate deep pockets like the Kochs that put him in power. They don't care if people die in the streets from poisoned air as long as they can fill their pockets even more. Endless greed is the motto of the Republican Party and their corporate owners. Trump is their stooge.
3
Have the American Citizens gone mad? WE the PEOPLE can not allow this. How can anyone look at their children or grandchildren and rationalize such an selfish and stupid strategy. ANYONE supporting this type of measure is promoting the destruction of humanity. NEXT thing you know Trump and his ilk will be creating legislation to promote the use of toxic asbestos in products. If it adds money to their bank account, they are all for it.
3
How long are we going to tolerate this in-your-face sabotaging of every facet of a government that exists in large part to protect the citizens of this country from predatory, unhealthy, unsafe, unscrupulous corporate entities?
Every one of this idiot president's cabinet appointees are actively undermining the foundations that hold our democracy together.
I have this fantasy that when Mueller's investigation reveals the depth of corruption underlying trump's ascendance, that he will also ensnare most of his cabinet, Ryan, Nunes, McConnell, the gang of congressmen/women aiding in the cover-up, Conway and last but not least Mike Pence. The dirt is pervasive.
11/6/2018
We must clean house - if there's still one to clean.
2
Well,well. US cars are going to be having an even harder time to find a market in Europe in the future it seems. All a part of Trumps well thought out devious plan I'm sure.
3
car companies were smart they would announce they will continue with research. Americans want cleaner ire fuel efficient cars. If American car companies won't do the research Americans will turn to foreign companies with a better grasp on the future. Ford, General Motors and Chrysler do the intelligent thing law or no law.
2
What has always mystified me is the resistence of the auto companies to CAFE standards. The companies hire thousands of engineers for what purpose? Shouldn't the challenge to improve the fuel efficiency of the internal combustion engine be a challenge to the engineers rather than challenging the standards?
2
1- this will help offset the increase in cars prices due to tariffs on metals, allowing 2 ideological hits with 1 stone.
2- this will allow foreign countries to restrict access to their markets for non compliance to health and environmental rules, setting off cries of unfairness, exacerbating tensions, justifying increased military spending.
1
Nominally, E.P.A. stands for "Environment Protection Agency." The Trump administration is retooling it to be the "Environmental Pollution Agency," and it won't even need to abandon the E.P.A signature.
2
Here’s a suggestion: if your comment is trite and predictable, refrain from making it.
1
You should take your own advice. Next time, consider doing what most people do, and scroll past that which you find disagreeable.
1
Like yours? Did you stomp your feet while writing this?!?
It only proves that European and Japanese automakers are decades ahead of American automakers, and it is precisely because of the strict regulations put on them. Look up EURO7.
1
This is the worst president and administration in the history of our country. Next they will repeal child labor laws.
2
Isn't it time for ten million people to gather in Washington, DC, and haul this entire administration to Guantanamo?
4
No. It is time for a few old guys with long arms to exercise their second amendment rights.
It's easy enough to monitor which car companies relax their emissions, then shop elsewhere.
2
I will surely NOT buy an automobile from a manufacturer is using this insane proposal to avoid reducing emissions.
3
WHY is the Trump administration trying to kill me and any future I or my family may have. It was WRONG that the government didn't care about regulating toxic car emissions that HAS IMPACTED our health and livelihoods here in America. I had hope after the VW crisis, but now I am APPALLED that we would reverse years of hard work that I was actually proud of, only to damage our environment and health tenfold. Even if you don't care about the environment, does the Trump administration care about keeping Americans healthy, alive and safe? (No, they don't) Does he want to end the world as we know it before he goes out? What a way to go with a bang buddy. As a young adult in their twenties, I am fed up of ignorant baby boomers that continue to destroy any hope of a positive and healthy future for myself, peers and loved ones.
1
He is unwinding what Obama did. His tiny little ego is still bruised from the White House Correspondence Dinner take down.
2
Volkswagen recently got hit with a $15-billion dollar fine for emissions tampering. Ahh, the good old days - I remember them well - seems like just... yesterday. The EPA's actions are effectively a pardon. All's forgiven - no harm done.
Breath dirty air, drink poisoned water, eat toxic food, help only yourself: vote Republican.
5
The 16-page draft is 16 pages longer than what his boss is capable of comprehending.
3
America, what have you done......?
2
46.5% of eligible voters in the US voted for the Monster. NOT THE ENTIRE US. This is an embarrassment to the normal Americans.
2
I might live in middle America, but if coastal America stands for cleaner and more fuel-efficient vehicles, then I'm with them. And besides, we're on a coast: the Lake Michigan coast.
Each of my cars since I bought my first one in 1993 has been more fuel-efficient than the last, and my next one will continue this trend, whether gas is $1.35 a gallon, $4.29 a gallon, or somewhere in between.
2
If this country produces cars that are less clean and less fuel efficient, doesn't that make them unattractive in the international market? Whose tunnel vision and lack of forward thinking is convinced this makes any logical sense? Wait. Just answered my own question.
2
Why would we want to do this? Stupid and backward.
1
I look around and see the Trump supporters proudly driving their ginormous pick-ups and SUVs, pretending that having a large vehicle is about "safety," while at the same time spewing invisible pollution into the air that is, in the long run, far more unsafe for themselves, their children, and their grandchildren.
The short-term view is all they seem capable of understanding, and we have their short-sightedness to blame for the environmental disasters that will unfold across this fragile planet in the coming years. I hope they learn the error of their ways sooner rather than later, but at this point, it seems as if it is already too late.
But then, there are predators who seem to think that each climate-related disaster that occurs is a great financial opportunity to exploit. Houston is still being picked over by these vultures ... Maybe this is the Republicans' long-term plan? Cause environmental disasters and then make as much money as they can off of them? Apparently, they believe that having piles of money will make up for not having oxygen to breathe, or clean water to drink. Hmm. Wonder how long they'll be able to sustain that?
6
California has long maintained their own, stricter clean air standards and has ample legal precedent to continue this practice into the foreseeable future. U.S. Auto manufacturers will design cars to be compliant with these standards regardless of temporary changes to the EPA standards. European auto manufacturers will be guided by even stricter EU standards. Trump/Pruitt will only succeed in making US regulatory policy irrelevant.
5
My husband has been leasing and driving hybrids for years, many different foreign brands/models, and all performed flawlessly. His current hybrid, American-made, has had all kinds of strange problems. Now he's looking into a BMW 530e (our charging station to be built by BMW), a hybrid plug-in. I'm on the list for a Tesla Model 3.
How is the US supposed to compete in the international car market if they pile low fuel standards on top of existing quality issues?
We can vote in November, but we as consumers can also vote with our car choices.
6
Let's hope that the 10% ethanol fuel requirments are reduced or eliminated. Ethanol blended gas is less fuel efficient than 100% gasoline which costs the consumer more money. Ethanol also shortens the service lifetime of components that it comes in contact with. Worst of all, the overall energy budget ( and don't forget all the negatives that go along with the agricultural production of corn) for producing fuel-grade ethanol far exceeds the modest gains in a reduction of certain tailpipe emmisions.
Ethanol is an oxygenate, which fuel needs to burn cleanly. California used MTBE and google it to see how well that went. Not saying ethanol is the perfect answer, but it's not the bogeyman you are portraying it to be. How about we just get rid of internal combustion engines in vehicles altogether? It's very possible.
1
We should be more worried about how long cars last than anything else. It takes a tremendous amount of resources and pollution associated with acquiring the resources, building the parts, shipping, assembly, etc. One of the worst decisions ever with regards to car pollution was cash for clunkers. Each destroyed vehicle represented more pollution, not less, while driving prices for used vehicles up due to government caused scarcity. This hit low income individuals worst.
The most ecological vehicle is one that is driven longest, even if emissions are high, the net effect of the entire chain of resources needed to produce a replacement is greater.
2
It is hard to understand how this will not damage the U.S. auto industry. Most manufacturers now sell their models in multiple markets, and having weaker environmental controls in the U.S. versus other markets makes the cars unsalable in those markets. And the more we "protect" our domestic market, the less attractive our cars become versus better-engineered imports. At a time when the U.S. manufacturers are finally overcoming this perceived quality differential (i.e. we are making cars that can compete with any brand in the world precisely because we have to compete with all brands in the world) this is a step backwards.
5
Great. Now the healthcare and big pharma industries will be able to make lots more money as our elderly, children and future generations have more respiratory ailments, our big agra will get grants to research making artificial food as our crops suffer, and builders will have a financial boom when our coastal communities are consumed by the warming oceans with dead fish washing up on the shores of what used to be inland locations. But not to worry, the economy is doing great...or is it?
5
Two ways the public can address the Administration's effort to roll back environmental protections:
(1) Power to the Buyers: Don't purchase products from companies that support polluting our environment.
(2) Power to the Voters: Vote. Them. Out. Americans can end this nightmare by voting against any and all Republican candidates on November 6th.
Power to the People!
10
Rolling back fossil fuels fast is about to become surprisingly practical. The EPA rules will soon not matter.
All combustion engines can be easily and cheaply converted to run on water. See MOVING BEYOND OIL at aesopinstitute.org for an introduction to this seemingly impossible potential.
Future electric cars will have on-board chargers. They will sell electricity or power buildings when suitably parked.
Future internal combustion engines will need no fuel. They will utilize ambient heat instead - a huge untapped reservoir of solar energy available 24/7.
The new science defies convention and is slow to gain acceptance as it departs from long established belief.
However, as products enter the markets they will demonstrate the astonishing reality.
The work is done by small firms, poorly supported at present, made difficult by Trolls who do not hesitate to lie and distort, as they are certain it reflects fraud and dishonesty.
Abrupt climate change chaos appears to be approaching. It is now urgent to replace fossil fuels far faster than existing technology will allow.
Pollution kills millions worldwide now. Breakthrough technologies will reverse the problem far faster than regulations.
Change, as Margaret Mead pointed out, is always made by a small number of individuals.
This is a time in history where a few bold souls can make a huge difference by lending support and encouraging the rapid birth of 24/7 clean, green, power.
Cars are the perfect place to start!
1
From NYTimes 3/29/18; "The United Nations secretary general, António Guterres, on Thursday called climate change “the most systemic threat to humankind” and urged world leaders to curb their countries’ greenhouse gas emissions".
According to : https://www.globalpetrolprices.com/gasoline_prices
There are ~ 134 countries with higher gasoline prices than the USA, including 54 where the cost is presently higher than $5 USD per gallon.
If Trump thinks his plan to increase the export of USA vehicles hinges around making them less fuel efficient and more likely to promote climate change, it's probable tepid sales could prove otherwise.
It's not only bad for the planet, it's most likely a bad business strategy.
4
edit:
correct link for world gasoline prices
https://www.globalpetrolprices.com/
then select gasoline prices tab.
prices in liters, gallons and different currencies are avail.
Is any of this a surprise? He telegraphed all this chaos years before the GOP made him the standard bearer for their party. I temper my ire for the administration and focus it all on the GOP, for there is no Trump without the GOP.
4
Why Why Why....It has to for something other than money, some evil dismantling of the social order or something.....why try to kill people over money?
Madness...auto pollution is a proven menace...yes with auto makers and big oil fighting it every step of the way...why buckle to them now....why, explain it!!!
2
Everything Trump does is wrong. He is trying to kill us all.
5
Meanwhile, Starbucks is being forced to label their coffee as a potienial cancer threat.
Where is the warning that this administration, so-called president and the GOP IS A GREATER THREAT to our health????
6
The rolling back of America continues....where are you Ryan and McConnell?
4
The wretchedness of this administration knows no limits.
5
The question becomes who is this President and his Cronies serving , Scott Pruitt claims to be a good Christian man, go figure. The future generations will pay the price. For those who voted for him you deserve what you got.
4
Unfortunately the rest of us are suffering for it.
3
This is absolutely outrageous. Seriously, this is gross disregard for our planet and the well being of everything we know and love.
If and when the day comes, I hope the properties that Trump owns are the first that are effected by global warming.
We deserve SO much better from our politicians. Why isn't ANYONE DOING ANYTHING!!!!!!!!! I DO NOT CONSENT TO BE GOVERNED IN THIS FASHION.
3
I would like to think that this will put the kabash on the sale of American made cars to other countries. What a brilliant idea!!??
3
nothing 0bama did during his presidency help the economy or the earth. worst recovery in history after the crash because of all his job killing regulations.
thank GOD President Trump sees the failures of the past and is working hard to make best in class decisions to help all Americans prosper
Brasto: What a crock! that's insane just on it's own - Obama got us out of the worst crash aside from the great depression - you can rewrite history in your own mind but your part of the problem. This will destroy our planet which scientists have already proven globally that mad made emissions is what's causing the super storms and droughts, etc. Go back to your bubble!
5
Let us call it like it is no matter what other names he has been called he can now be officially designated :
THE POISONOUS president.
(Lower case letters intentional)
2
Automakers won't have people to sell their cars to in the future because we won't have one if we allow this to become the rule of law.
Just because this insane Potus and his EPA chief (what an oxymoron) want to ignore science and further pollute the planet doesn't mean we have to put up with it. BLUE WAVE 2018!!!
3
How long will we be subjected to the destructive tyranny of the Trump regime?
2
Hooray! Government should not force companies to do anything. The people should force companies to change their ways if their product stinks. But government force is tyranny. As us criby-capitalism.
1
Our president was unfortunately born at the wrong time in world history. He would have been much more comfortable had he been born when others of like mind were more prevalent -- the Neanderthal period.
4
Now you are insulting the Neanderthals.
Boycott auto makers who lower their standards.
2
This rule reversal will not achieve it's goal.
Automakers are not obligated to roll back their vehicles. And they are certainly not going to build two separate vehicles one for CA, NY, PA and another for the rest of the country. That would increase the cost of either vehicle and cut profit margins.
Dumb.
Environmental PROTECTION Agency.....now an oxymoron.
2
This Administration does everything wrong. As the Arctic melt increases exponentially, species dying off in catastrophic numbers, this bunch of evil men are moving in the opposite direction in which we should be moving. Pruitt and Trump should be sent out of town on rail cars. They are an abomination. If this were the 60's I believe we'd all be surrounding the White House, millions of us. Pruitt and Trump are the greatest threat we face as a nation and a member of the global community.
2
This is horrifying. Just head over to India to see the result of lax regulation and pollution
4
As this evil, backwards administration plans their rollbacks, smart, progressives like myself plan our departure from what used to be one if the most innovative nations in the world. I fully plan on putting my intelligence and skills into a country that better deserves it.
2
I would look into Pruitt's finances - offshore accounts, etc. My hunch is that he is accepting bribes.
2
I just keep saying “Our poor kids. Our poor future generations of kids.”
3
Another dangerous (for the planet) move from the US following hot on the heals of the revelation that the Germans are simply shipping their high polluting cars across the border Eastern Europe. When will you all accept that it’s our planet too and that pollution doesn’t respect national boundaries.
1
Simple fact that none of us have recognized thus far...
Republicans don't breathe air, they breathe money.
5
Nice one
How does ceding car manufacturing to Chinese, Indian and European and Japanese car manufacturers make America the#1 car manufacturer? Those countries have already made the commitment to electric and hybrid vehicles : Europe and Japan don’t like pollution and oil dependence—and are transitioning their entire infrastructure toward that goal. In China, India, and Southeast Asia , the streets are tiny and the air is unbreathable. They are already building or will be building their own electric and hybrid small cars—I don’t envision more Ford F150’s being sold there. Maybe in the rural U.S. people are expected to take the extra money from their tax cut to buy a second Ford F-150.
Once again we have a Trumpian initiative that reverses anything that happened in the Obama administration, will result in fewer, not more jobs, disregards science, rewards the lobbyists in the energy industry and makes America the Exceptional Nation by being exceptionally stupid.
2
For everyone wanting to take action: the EPA has a comment period for proposed regulations on the regulations.gov website. Thus far, every comment submitted has been a poorly reasoned criticism of environmentalism written in broken English. I think it's incredibly important to show that the majority of Americans support the Clean Air Act and do not want it to be dismantled.
https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=EPA-HQ-OAR-2017-0759-0001
4
Thank you. I made a comment- from a real American!
2
I'm kind of getting tired of all this winning.
2
As a science writer and former newsman with The Associated Press, I appreciate the length and depth of this story on an extremely important issue — air quality — that would have an impact on the lives of all humans worldwide. Suggestion: The proposed change in EPA regulations will certainly merit continued debate and newspaper ink. A good sidebar to this story would provide the reader with the actual numbers proposed in the new regulations. What are the current EPA standards for carbon, sulphur etc. emissions and what is being proposed? Ultimately, the debate on the proposed change will focus on emission numbers and the Fourth Estate should provide this data to readers who truly “need to know.” Please provide a few sentences with specific numbers on the proposed change in future stories. Thank you, Dwight Woodward, [email protected]
Apparently "Make America Great Again" translated is "Make our rivers catch fire again"
1
With the Dodd-Franks anti-movement, we can overcome the money and greed it will cause. But if you destroy the Earth, how will you overcome that? Earth Day is April 22. I hope Trump and Pruitt do not use that day as the day they might sign the EO for these insane changes.
1
Headline should be:
Insane Trump Proposal Guarantees U.S. Automakers' Demise Within 10 Years
Industry responds with shrugs, prepares to take last grabs and line golden parachutes.
2
Cough Cough Cough!! Here we go.
2
So, when VW violates the emission norms they get slapped with lawsuits, stating among other things that the raised emissions cause sickness and death.
But a government official can simply relax the rules, causing the same effect on health, without anybody being able to do anything about it? VW should ask for it's money back!
What I would do is lock this guy into a big aircraft hangar and then fill it with the _difference_ in emissions his change makes in _one day_ all across America. My guess is he wouldn't die from CO, CO2 or NOX poisoning. My guess is he would simply be buried beneath tons and tons of carbon and sulfur, filling the hangar to the rafters...
1
Conservatism. n. A sustained attack on the public health.
5
Make America Gasp Again. Gee wheeze, is the average Republican OK with this? Do they want to breathe dirtier air to save a few dollars, or, more accurately, to save automakers a few dollars? If not, maybe they should let Trump and Pruitt (head of the Extra Pollution Administration) and automakers know of their feelings.
3
Here we go again. Anything Obama did must be eliminated.
Trump may be able to undo all the good Obama did BUT Trump will never change the fact that Obama will be remembered as one of our greatest presidents. A man with integrity and compassion. A man of intellect and humility.
Trump will be remembered as the petty buffoon who attempted to play president. The businessman who aided by the GOP divided our country and destoyed a growing economy. We would be better off as a country if he had hired someone to play himself.
2
Fear not, citizens! If you see someone choking on smog you can just give them CPR and all will be well.
3
I grew up in Los Angeles before air quality standards were established. I remember going out to play and having my chest hurt.
One sign of maturity is deferred gratification. Instant gratification seems to be the hallmark of these cretins in power and the gratification is always money.
No wonder these right-wing zealots are so critical and harsh on the Parkland students. Those high school students exemplify higher critical thinking, intelligence and awareness of the public good--attributes these so-called adults lack.
4
To all who didn't vote or who voted for a "protest" candidate: They're all the same, you said. How much damage could Trump do? you said.
3
Every day, another step backwards. I just shake my head. America is not a leader anymore.
2
This is insane. Scott Pruitt appears to have no long-term vision for the future of the planet or humanity. The fact that he is the head of the Environmental Protection Agency is tragically ironic. The fact that Trump selected him to that position is the clearest example of the president's complete lack of interest in doing anything meaningful or beneficial for our nation of the world.
3
Even though I now have a Volt that I love, and was looking forward to getting a Bolt, this really aggravates me and makes me NOT want to buy another GM car.
2
Hurrah. Is that a victory?? It's 2018 and were still running cars with 19th century tech.
It's 2018 and we're still running cars.
I used to work at EPA and if I need a new car I’ll fly from DC to CA to buy one, then drive home. I could use a road trip.
4
Environmental crimes and crimes against humanity should be tried by an international tribunal.
3
Trump to environmentalists: "Hey, you aren't the only ones who love the green."
Dear Liberals. You have been in charge at EPA since the beginning. You have done nothing for auto mileage. My 1970s Honda got 40 mpg. My 2014 Honda gets well under 40 mpg. If I want better mileage I have to buy a hybrid which comes with its own set of problems--and higher pricetag.
The few solid examples of progress are all market driven. Pay attention and realize the government is not your friend.
Automobiles serve as the perfect example of regulation successfully driving technological innovation. Fatalities per mile traveled have dramatically declined as a result of regulation. Emissions of NOx and other pollutants have done the same, also as a result of regulation.
But, fuel economy, and resultant CO2 emissions, is based on deeply flawed ideas about vehicle class, and has not improved much. Vehicle weight, power, and profile drive fuel consumption. Some of the weight in you newer car is from added safety features, but most cars today are inefficient simply because they are larger, higher off the ground, and overpowered. Most of this is a combination of consumer ego and girth. As Americans became softer, it was easier to brainwash them into buying increasingly "rugged" vehicles.
In all three cases, success at the individual vehicle level does not translate fully into overall improvement if people drive more. In locations with naturally-restricted land use such as NYC or Japan, the birthplace of your Honda, cars tend to driven less, if at all. Miles driven can also easily be remedied under federal transportation and housing policies which favor public transportation and mixed use development, for example. Taxing C02 - an idea supported by the vanishing breed of real conservatives - who believe in personal responsibility - would also be highly effective.
1
Then you got the wrong Honda. My Accord gets over 50 mpg.
1
Today's presidential historians are fortunate. Just think of all the presidential libraries which have been built and stuffed full of "presidential papers"............Trump's historians can simply rent a small mail box at the post office. Every Tweet will likely fit there. With room to spare for Spence's......
2
I guess their credo of "states rights" only applies selectively.
3
Maybe a smart US car company will say, “No thanks, we’ve already embraced the future and we won’t collude with you against the American people.”
4
The short term strip mining of the American economy enabled by this administration continues unabated.
1
It's about time we got rid of those annoying seat belts too and maybe airbags...
3
What carmakers are insisting upon enables larger
more profitable suvs and pickups to be manufactured. These have been and, for the near future, will be easily
marketed and sold to those Americans who care not at all to make consumption choices based upon external criteria like climate change or poorer air quality. There are many such people, far too many. But such is life
at present.
As gas prices moderated of late, sales of such vehicles did increase. So automakers are dedicated to pursuing the higher per vehicle profit for such items. This is
completely predictable.
What less self obsessed consumes can do is purchase
cars from other manufacturers with much better emissions. This will undoubtedly cause domestic sales
to shrink, or remain flat. Losing market share is
apparently less important than profit per car/truck sold.
Will this lead to a second auto industry crisis? It is hard to believe domestic producers are that stupid. But by
now I could believe anything along those lines.
The issue with California seems more interesting. It is possible this decision by pruitt reflects il duce's insistence to take on his opponents at full blast and whenever possible. Here the opponent is California's legal exception that tweeter in chief really wants to eliminate, especially if he can take on Brown in the process.
It is this psychological subtext that seems particularly pertinent in understanding the roll back. Partisanship dictates never to give an inch to an opponent.
2
If everyone boycotts the dirtier auto makers, then they should get the message, we sent our industry broke, they still made 6 and 8 pots, nobody bought them.
They bought corollas and hyundais
1
Gas mileage decreases and more oil is needed for gasoline. What happens to the price of oil and who profits from oil and gas price increases? The Saudis, (Trump's good friends) and the Koch brothers ( Pruitt's friends) stand to gain, consumers will be paying. Oh, do you think that opening up ANWAR and the National Parks in Utah for drilling has anything to do with this?
We are truly fools.
4
Please relay to the auto makers that I will not rent, or purchase any car that does not meet the California standards.
4
Michigan automakers and workers are foolish and have been for years. They lost most of the California market with their lousy quality and insistence on not listening to their customers. All this does is encourage more California consumers to buy foreign products that get better mileage and do not pollute as much.
Someday they will end up like West Virginia coal miners, bitter that their son's and daughter's are dying of lung disease and the alternatives have replaced them. The world is on the march to cleaner cars and proper environmental stewardship. Denying science will not help in the long run.
They will never admit it, but they will wish they had listened to the black President.
5
If this comes about, Americans should demand to have the California vehicles when they buy a car no matter where they live. The only thing Trump and Pruitt understand is the power of the dollar. The auto industry should also understand that people want the best and newest technology in their vehicle. Why would anyone want to have to spend more money on fuel and pollute the environment more? The auto industry will find that what they wished for will become a huge and expensive headache. What is happening in this country will take years to undo. I never in my life knew that America had so many stupid people until Trump and his ilk took over. Nothing lasts forever and here's hoping that will be the Trump administration and the Republican party.
4
The cumulative effects of the rogue Trump Presidency and his slash and burn administration manned by a dazzling collection of miscreants is more fundamentally dangerous than anyone could have imagined.
Add in the GOP controlled Congress so given to wantonly abetting this disastrous presidency and the gathering perfect storm of utterly foolhardy and destructive political behavior becomes a certainty.
Hard to imagine this going on another three years.
4
The venality of Trump and his minions is absolutely staggering.
It's too bad that some mainline American car manufacturer doesn't make a marketing campaign out of a declaration that it is going to abide by the existing clean air standards no matter what the feds do to eliminate them.
That would allow millions of American (and foreign) car buyers to vote with their pocketbooks on sustaining the viability of planet Earth.
4
The Trump presidency is sure to end in tragedy. For the country and for Trump. Ultimately he will pay a price for his wretched behavior. Unfortunately the country will wake up one day and realize what incredible damage he has done in the interest of his ego only. But then there has been a long history of despots and dictators acting this way.
There is a crisis coming, much bigger than anyone can imagine. The country will weather it but many people will suffer.
3
Our government is about to ease
Laws that trim our tendency to wheeze
Car builders will find joy
But most folks will shout oy
This smacks of administrative sleaze
4
Trump has said in the recent past that he doesn't believe in environmental pollution. The man is simply clueless. I can't wait until he is impeached...and I am confident that he will be once the truth is revealed about his past dealings with Russia. His presidency marks a very dark period in our nation's history. He is, by far, the worst president in our nation's history...or at least in my lifetime which spans nearly 70 years.
5
Disgusting! They are not protecting our family, our country, our safety or this world. I refuse to purchase a car that doesn't continue to cut emissions or fully EV
4
Yup. Killing off the planet, one decision at a time.
3
Casino government. Roll the dice.
2
Would someone please require Pruitt and his family to live 6 months in a major city with no job killing regulations? My suggestion is Lima, Peru, a fabulous city with serious pollution issues
3
Dear Ford, GM amd FCA (Fiat Chrysler Automobiles) what Mr. Trump and Pruitt forgot to consider is that "We The People" will buy other brands if you go back to vehicles that pollute more... Simple as that! Thank you.
5
Why is this a victory for automakers? Sounds more like a victory for oilmakers.
7
May be we as adults should do what the kids in Florida did - They will vote against the NRA and try to cut off ads on Fox news.
Stop buying cars that follow the EPA roll backs and hit the car companies in their pockets. People have a lot of power if they use their dollars.
4
Of course trump would do this. How can we expect anything different from this man and his self-interested wrecking crew? Hillary was right; they are all deplorable.
3
As the rest of the world tightens its rules for auto emissions, a move like this will pretty much kill the entire US car export market.
2
Siding with Trump and Pruitt here. With its population density and mountains trapping the onshore wind, SoCal would still look like Beijing does now if the state did nothing about its emissions.
But Sac's eco-freaks are truly out of control. Only certain indoor lamps can be shipped to California, depending what bulbs they use. Everything has a cancer warning. They freak out about tankers offshore, so it's a wonder L.A. is still a port. In my county where the air wasn't brown, we worked OT nine weekdays so someone could claim one day of pure oxygen.
I can't stand Pruitt, but the only industries Sac gets are Monsanto and Facebook. The new emissions goals are just some wish upon a star when most Californians are barely making it, which circles around to housing and that thanks to environmental impact hoops, no one can affordably build anywhere.
Trump eliminates anything which could help people by making us healthier and, in the process, create new products.
Moving backwards, complacency, defeatism. Is that America? Under Trump, yes.
We cannot improve our country and create new industry without vision. Forward vision, not backward.
I am so tired of the orange hair and the grimace and the phony machismo.
Please wake me when it's over.
4
EDA Environmental Destruction Agency is what it is now.
2
My late, late grandmother, she died 50 years ago this coming August, used to say about the residents of the town and county where I grew up in Pennsylvania, that "these people would vote for the devil as long as there is an R behind their name." Well, the devil is in place in the Trump administration. Vote. Please vote on TUESDAY, 6 November 2018. Your life depends on it. Our country depends on it. It truly is a matter of life and death.
5
I promise you, American carmakers, if you actually go along with what Pruitt is doing and make your cars less efficient, I will personally never buy an American car again. I bet I'm not the only one, either.
5
Another (disastrous) policy decision taken by Donald Trump to make America Great Again.
Even in their wildest dreams, America's enemies could fathom a president that, single-handly, is de-constructing the basic pillars of a superpower.
5
The Sierra Club, the League of Conservation Voters and several other environmental groups are stepping up their campaigns to make sure that Scott Pruitt goes the way of so many other Trump appointees... out the door.
https://www.bootpruitt.com/
3
Supporters of this measure should be forced to take an hour-long walk every day during the dog days of summer in Washington DC. Even with the present regulations, we have regular "health advisories."
Most likely the president's doctor won't let him do that.
2
Forget increasing exports. The world has gone in the opposite direction. MALA: Making America Lose Again.
2
The response to that, if it materializes, is a global boycot on American cars, including import embargos by all planet-caring nations.
3
It is clear that Donald Trump and Scott Pruitt are a danger to our way of life, as they destroy the progress we have made to make our lives healthier and safer in the future. There is no reason for it other than Trump's mis-guided belief that he knows more than anyone else about what is good for us. He is wrong and must be stopped.
1
The evolution of cleaner American cars is something we should be very proud of. It should not be something we roll back.
3
“if they thought this would end by California rolling over and giving up its more stringent standards...that was a miscalculation."
Go California!
4
With every headline or story lead I feel my pulse quickening and sadness for my grandson's future increasing. My meditations do provide relief then I realize the human race will perish needlessly. Ironic that on Good Friday the anti-Christ is striking again. Killing Mother Earth is one means of genocide.
3
Unbelievable. All for his base: “We want to be the car capital of the world again. We will be, and it won’t be long.”
Bad air and pollution travel on the currents of the wind all over the planet, continuing to warm it, leading to changing climate patterns worldwide, affecting billions of people and wildlife. Maybe both Trump and Pruitt and their cohorts think that they will exist in a hermetically sealed environment apart from the rest of us. If I have to breathe bad, polluted air and contract related illnesses because of it, then so will Trump and his cronies!!
2
You don’t have to believe in human caused climate change to be alarmed by this. Pollution causes health problems. It contributes to cancer, high blood pressure, asthma, stroke, and in some cases miscarriage. Trump’s EPA is harmful to you, your children, and your grandchildren. If this means anything to you, call your Senators, your representatives, your governor, your state representatives.
2
As consumers there is a simple answer, don’t buy new cars if the automakers pursue this action. Hit them where it counts. Ultimately they are responsible for the product and the impact even if the government changes the rules. Shame on Trump and Pruit but in thee meantime boycotts can have profound effects.
3
Why would anyone with the power of the Presidency actually go out of their way to make our world hazardous to live in? It really is jaw-dropping.
Let us not forget that Trump does not believe in climate change either.
5
I worked for years in the auto industry and we were PROUD of our achievements in reducing both emissions (nitrous oxides, particulates, unburned hydrocarbons) and improving fuel economy. We did it because legislation asked for it, but also because we wanted to be better than the competition. I remember long discussion with board directors pushing us to achieve an additional 0.5% fuel consumption improvement, to beat the competition and offer our customers a product that would cost them less to run.
Because, regardless of the archaic and ignorant views of selfish dinosaurs like Trump and Pruitt, better fuel economy results in lower costs for the end user. Any serious business user who drives a big rig or a pick-up truck for tens of thousands of miles per year will always choose the vehicle with the lowest running costs, and in these days of long warranty periods and free service packages, this translates mostly into fuel costs.
Which is why I don’t think American car and truck makers will go back to producing 1955 Buicks. Global competition demands globally competitive products, and unless the Trump administration bans import of fuel-efficient foreign cars and trucks, the “big three” will not be so foolish as to put themselves out of the market.
7
Those who do not learn from the past are condemned to repeat it.
3
There's a simple way for US the people to make sure this rule change does not come to pass. A boycott against American manufacturers if it passes. Honda isn't asking for this rule change- GM and Ford are. Sure, Hondas are made in the US. But a promised boycott will make GM and Ford change their mind. If they aren't for it, it won't go through. This is all about $.
4
My great pride in being and calling myself an "American" is beyond wearing thin - actually, with Trump's need to completely reverse everything that Obama did is an astonishing example of how our president behaves with the maturity of a 9 year old . . .
No wait - I have several nieces and nephews this age who are far more mature !
Scott Pruitt is an extraordinarily ignorant creature, with an emphasis on having no sense of science whatsoever - as per everyone else in the greedy GOP.
How it is now, to see a Once Great Country be torn apart by a president who's only sense of greatness is himself.
We invented the VCR and then gave it away to Japan . . .
We did not create global warming alone, albeit "we" are a huge contributor to greenhouse gasses - nor did we invent the technology (well, some of it) for producing cleaner cars and energy production - however -
We did walk away from the opportunity to be global leaders in the much necessary and emerging businesses which produce safe power and extremely fuel efficient cars.
There "was" (is) unlimited business potential in clean energy . . . many folks in "coal country" WANT to be retrained in modern technology - they really do not want their children going down into the mines which they have done for generations -
Trump and his demolition team will do everything possible to tear down true opportunity for our country and people.
5
The only thing Trump does in office is undo Obama’s hard-won achievements. Trump is incapable of doing anything to help American citizens. And no matter what he does, he’ll never be the President Obama was. Ever.
5
This is criminal. This will make people sicker and shorten lives. No coincidence, I'm sure, that the Trump administration's EPA is no longer collecting data on the health effects of pollution. This administration must fall as soon as possible.
5
Money over life. Make America sick again.
5
Modern day conservatism has evolved into a tribal, short sighted, greedy and vindictive cult. In Donald Trump they certainly have their messiah.
5
We have a lot to redo and undo when these evil men are gone.
4
What fools Trump and Pruitt are. Let's proceed with poisoning the environment even more than we are now simply to reverse something else Obama did as a step forward. We are quickly abdicating all leadership in the world, and as the major polluter of the planet, the rest of the world will soon not trust anything that comes out of Washington. These jokers need to be emasculated, and soon. November cannot come quickly enough.
3
Those damnable job killing regulations!
1
Trump and Pruitt have got to go. Zinke, too.
3
Now we can breathe like his beloved Beijing, Manila, and Moscow.
3
The ignorants are in charge.
2
Another step backwards. It is time for some accountability as this administration professes it’s empirical ignorance yet again.
3
Let's hear the voice of all the cynics who refused to vote for Hillary Clinton, who declared "they're all the same, they're all corrupt!"
Hopefully you've learned your lesson, but unfortunately it may be too late.
While we waste energy talking about affairs and rudeness, this man is undermining the fabric and credibility of the US as the effective global thought-leader. So sad.
4
Do you want to unite the opposition against Trump or divide it? If the latter, you’re on the right track.
Oh for heaven’s sake, can we just be done with Donald Trump and his retro back sliding ideas and cronies??? Why would any American car company slide backward? So the only people buying their cars are uneducated white Trump supporters? But an interesting way for them to hasten the deaths of the rest of us .... with air pollution. Unfortunately they don’t understand they breathe the same polluted air. Sad. More bad old white man decisions.
4
WooHoo! Cars are cheaper! Lives are shorter. All is in Balance at the GOP.
6
Scott Pruitt is an environmental terrorist in a suit. No wonder he's afraid to fly coach. The environmental policies of the Trump administration and Pruitt's EPA will kill people. That is not hyperbole, that's fact.
4
Are we lost our mind!!!! Climate change is a fact and still we are sitting and allowing the world to get worst ?
I hope my grandchildren will forgive me for my inaction in protecting our world!!!!
I am so sorry!!!!
2
For some reason, Steppenwolf's classic "Move Over" keeps popping in my head when thinking about politics in Washington and the country.
"Yesterday's glory won't help us today
You wanna retire?
Get out of the way
I ain't got much time
The young ones close behind
I can't wait in line"
Going back to the 1950's or even 1960's won't "Make America Great Again". We know more, will we act, or will we just get shoved out of the way?
3
A gift to the Japanese and Korean automakers.
4
Vote!
Vote the GOP bums out of office
Vote with your $$ by purchasing fuel efficient vehicles.
4
I hope the price of crude oil goes up to $500/barrel !!
1
This is sickening. Literally.
3
When the rest world is trying to limit gas emission, The US led by the Trump regime wants go the opposite direction. How do these pepople think US can maintain its competitive edge in the world market? How short-sighted and stupid!
3
Boy, Obama was such a terrible person, wanting clean air to breathe!
4
This man and his Republican lackeys are taking this country back to the Black Lung disease era.
4
These destructive reactionaries haven't the mental capacity to believe in anything. Why don't you just stay home and polish your guns and let people who care about the world run things.
2
Trump will probably get a kickback from the next oil embargo, IF Greed Oligarch & Profit GOPs were really serious in supporting national defense they would support ALL kinds of alternative energy and Higher fuel standards. No global warming, oil companies still flaring
3
This act is a clear travesty of injustice, collusion and corruption and a poison to the environment and the people by our government and corporations. As a society we want to progress and not regress and this move clearly demonstrates how dysfunctional and destructive the human race can be.
We need to send a clear message and the only messages they understand are dollar signs $$. If people galvanized and held on to their current vehicles, purchased used cars and boycotted the new car auto industry for an indefinite period of time, the automakers, lobbyists and government will realize this is not a game and will get the message; however, it will never happen.
1
Pruit and Trump can throw a polluted bone to their patrons in the fossil fuel industry, but California will not roll back their fuel economy standards and may, in fact, up the standard just because Trump and Pruitt are so brazen. And the auto makers, as happened in the past, will work to meet the California standard across the board rather than build two versions of a car.
2
Trump's plan for America is to take it backward, to ignore upcoming generations and to ignore history. Richard Nixon today may be remembered for Watergate and selling out the GOP to largely white, male, southern interests.
Ignored is the fact that he started the EPA, relations with China and more. The GOP must be removed from leadership of our country as it is destroying us bit by bit and piece by piece.
3
Most business owners never met a regulation they liked including autos, Facebook, and Amazon. The auto industry cried a river over seat belts and air bags that saved millions of lives. American auto makers were laggards in the 1970s when they continued to roll out large, gas guzzling cars after the Saudis and others decided they weren't going to give away cheap gas anymore that was less than a quarter a gallon when I started driving. They nearly went belly up then when Americans began buying smaller, fuel efficient autos rather than wait hours in gas lines. I'll always remember a poor mother standing outside a mall trying to sooth her baby's wails and burning eyes from smog so thick it was an amber fog that blocked my view past the mall as I drove by. I hate the thought greedy people want a polluted, dirty life and tragedy like that poor mother for my grandchildren and great grandchildren
2
Will most Americans even care, considering how many of them drive all-wheel-drive SUVs and giant pick-up trucks?
2
Pretty much any article about this administration and its policies can include these words from the second paragraph and the writer could just fill in the blanks for the rest of the sentence: “The move — which undercuts one of former President Barack Obama’s signature efforts to..."
In Mr. Trump's view, anything that Mr. Obama and the Democratic party championed is bad and should be eliminated.
Next on the chopping block: earned benefits like Social Security and Medicare. Or as Mr. Ryan and his ilk sneer, "entitlements."
This administration, under the explicit direction of Mr. Trump and with the blessing of Congress, is methodically dismantling our country.
"Make America Great Again" would have been the perfect motto for his opponent in 2020. If we even exist by then.
4
Go, California! (and the other states who uphold the same environmental standards.)
2
Do T. and cronies know that "undoing" regulations which protect the environment and public health are not accomplishments? This is a slow form of murder and people should sue the T.-administration.
2
I don't see how a fractured market would be advantageous to any car manufacturer.
CAFE standards set averages over the entire fleet. More polluting vehicles can be sold in the middle of the country and less polluting ones on the coasts, with the standards still met.
Of course, we would not even need anything like CAFE if we were willing to have a carbon tax, one that did not discriminate between industries (there is no reason to treat emissions from cars differently than emissions from other sources).
Our country is so screwed. Our industry is basically going to face huge changes in regulations every time the administration changes, making it impossible to plan and invest for the long-term.
3
Pruitt could also save the auto industry billions if we rolled back the regulations that require them to put seat belts, air bags and safety glass in vehicles.
5
I predict that the rest of the world will continue to rationalize their transportation systems to create fewer climate changing emissions, regardless of regressive actions here in the US. The major European automakers are all moving decisively into electrics cars which will be on sale in the not too distant future.
These changes will make US cars less relevant to the world market and hence less competitive outside of the US. This will result in diminished US car manufacturing as their products become attractive to only the domestic market.
Trump is too ill informed and stuck in the past to understand such subtleties. His actions will ultimately diminish the US auto industry as indeed it will diminish the country and the whole planet in the long run.
Trump - making America Irrelevant Again.
2
As happened to our financial system in 2008 when it collapsed, and would not have been revived without an infusion of tax funds to save the wealthy , the risk-takers who paid no price --so in 2016, our political system failed, when a total incompetent was unexpectedly thrust into the presidency (even unexpected to himself). And now the public must pay. Now it seems that both finance and politics work only to benefit a few at the expense of the many. Is there really nothing better? Dangers are increasing.The air we breathe and the water we drink under this administration is beginning to kill us. The climate we experience under this administration is increasingly destroying property and lives without any attempt to ameliorate. The enemies surrounding us under this administration are increasingly being goaded into regarding us into deadly opponents contemplating their destruction with few attempts to engage them diplomatically. The excessively wealthy under this administration ( including the administration itself, rapidly increasing their wealth and power) are gaining more and more wealth while everyone else is seeing little improvement, if any. Greedy people who gorge themselves at the public till ( exorbitant and unnecessary travel, luxurious and not-needed furniture, swamp-inspired business deals benefiting the connected) are now in power. And that which was beginning to make life better in the past is being removed steadily under the new selfish leaders.
6
Repubs live in the past. Reagan removed Carter's solar panels which could have been an example to all Americans.
When it comes to energy - repubs are always a century behind- they want our children to breathe pollution.
If it were up to repubs we'd all still be smoking cigarettes in maternity wards at hospitals.
3
I live miles from major highways that connect me to my home in Putnam County. What I don't understand is how my local Republican Senator Terrence Murphy and Assembly Member Kevin Bryne have nothing ever to say about air quality, asthma rates and speak nothing about scientific evidence how wrong this is. Calls & emails all ignored by both of these Trumpers and the Senator has the audacity to call himself a "wellness professional".
2
Volkswagon was fined billions, and lost billions in stock value, for its diesel emissions scandal. If I were a car-maker, I would stay on the lower-polluting side of this. And Pruitt is a danger to the nation and the world.
2
Such simpleminded thinking in these comments section. Do any of you actually what the Obama regulations were? Is anybody aware that the data suggests that the effect on protecting the environment were minimal at the expense of quality and durability? No, of course not. We are all just going to assume that Trump wants to pollute the air because he loves smog. Until a nuanced discussion of these issues is had, centrists like myself are going to look at the liberal screaming mobs like they are zombies of the apocolypse and fall right into the Republicans hands.
This is not just about Trump's obsession of undoing the few positive things President Obama accomplished. The long arm of the Fossil Fuel Crime Family is at work here: it wants to sell those 12 billion barrels of oil and more and the Republican Crime Family and its hoods like Trump and Pruitt are obligated to help.
1
Absolutely incredible. Auto makers need to look at the food industry. First they made fun of organic products. When we still opted for better, unadulterated, clean food, they began to start their own organic lines.
We always tried to buy American- but when American meant 14, 15 mpg, we went with Subaru- 31, 32 mpg average. This, after years the auto industry had to improve gas consumption. We’ll go electric when prices fit our budget.
Had to laugh at the possibility that the west coast might have cleaner, more efficient cars, while the Midwest gets the old, gas guzzlers. This, after watching a CNN segment on an eastern Kentucky town lacking clean water. Oh, and that state went for...Trump? What’s the Matter with Kentucky. The same thing that’s the Matter with our auto industry.
Less government- dirty water, dirty gas guzzlers ( Saudi Arabia must love this turnaround).
2
So Trump and his cabinet minions are going to spend his entire term in office trying to destroy Obama's legacy, kiss up to the Koch's, and curry favor with big business. What will be left of our environment, education system, veterans' safety net, healthcare and our country? At this rate, not much that we will recognize.
1
Yet another weak and feeble attempt by this administration to try and bully the public and appease his base or business interests.
Like the census question regarding citizenship the public can simply refuse to cooperate knowing in advance which manufacturers do not comply with the prior EPA standards.
Those under 30 are buying less new or any cars at all. Like DJT the auto industry will continue to see its market shrink and shrink over time. Long term any reversal of environmental standards will hurt car companies and the environment.
No one else. No one.
DJT and pruitt are too small minded to know that.
And it is one day closer to the November midterms!
1
Trump & Pruitt will lose this fight. The loss will begin with the auto industries inability to market these new automobiles and gas efficient ones will prevail. The auto industry knows this, and will most likely continue on the track of fuel efficiency. This agenda does not make any sense. It's dangerous for the future of our economy & for the environment. Sorry but living in the rust belt during the 70's was gruesome. Fear of future progress will only put the USA behind the global theater. The future is Clean. Save our children. Save our Planet. Destroy those that want us to believe they have our best interests at heart!
2
Let's hope the auto makers do not roll back the safer guidelines. Let reason prevail.
1
Pruitt and his hacks can shove it. I have owned four trucks. Big ones. All diesel, 6 litre plus engines, etc, etc.
My current truck got 2K miles in the last year. While my 2017 Civic just got over 10K miles in the same time. The truck is gone in the next 3 months. Thankfully the market for big trucks is great in Houston and I will not be losing money.
I am done with owning big trucks. If I need one, I will rent it. I am not the only one who is headed this way. There used to be lot more trucks in the driveways. Now I see a smaller SUV and behold the sight of sights, some driveways with hybrids. In some cases, a plug-in hybrid. This is HOUSTON and it is getting the religion.
So Mr. Pruitt, you can change the rules all you want but the market forces are headed the other way.
2
The Times should explore the relationship between rare diseases and auto pollution. There is evidence linking auto pollution and numerous illnesses. We cannot choose what air to breathe, and we will not know what microscopic particles are affecting our unborn children, born children, plants, trees, and the elderly if this rollback happens. Will the car manufacturers pay for medical care or will they wait until they are sued in court? Is the rollback of these laws worth the life of even one child who may die from a sudden asthma attack? Will Scott Pruitt comfort those parents? Look at the rise of "rare disease" (there is even a registry for this). Many are due to genetic problems which are not hereditary, but are environmental. The public needs to know what the end result of Mr. Pruitt's evil plan will be, and how to fight back. He must not succeed.
I am at a loss for the reason for continued counter-intuitive actions of Mr. Pruitt. The only thing I can see that fuels his zeal and paranoia regarding these actions is some sort of payoff. Can anyone else offer an honest explanation?
Follow the money!
In 1980, many cars got great mileage. The Toyota Starlet got 54 mpg and it held 4 people.
Would be nice to know how much the car companies would save by not meeting the standards or how much more per car it would be to meet the standards set by 44. Hard to make a judgement without that info.
If American carmakers go along with this criminal rollback of standards, then that should be the end of our support for them. We should abandon American cars and purchase safer, cleaner, more efficient cars from sane manufacturers from other countries. We have to draw the line at the Trump regime's destruction of American standards, and that will entail boycotting those companies who participate in this crime.
1
How incredibly myopic and self-centered. But of course it's part parcel with everything this administration does. Trump has only one mantra, business business business. Naturally he never sees the human side of the equation on which business depends. Let's hope the auto manufacturers are wee bit smarter.
So I won’t be bothered buying a car for the foreseeable future. This one can reach junk status, because that is what they want us to buy anyway. Anything to flow your money to billionaires....
2
In the online and email summaries of the article, you call the Trump administration's plans to weaken automaker clean-air standards a “win” and a “victory” for automakers. The terms seem odd. It is a dark sort of win that creates unhealthy customers and eventually contributes to widespread hardships and trauma for our civilization, as nearly every climate expert predicts.
The so-called “free-market” groups and others who defend California’s “basic right" to choose more polluting vehicles promote a bizarre sort of right indeed. Do they also claim a “basic right” to dump their garbage in my yard because it’s cheaper than a trash service? Shell Oil is making a better choice by moving toward clean hydrogen fuel.
I suggest that any representative, president, or cabinet member is in the wrong job if they are willing to ignore the overwhelming consensus of experts in a field and, based on a personal hunch or a narrow desire to enrich an individual or industry, are willing to gamble on the future of our entire planet.
3
Vote with your wallets, folks. Refuse to buy any car from a manufacturer who lowers standards. There will still be a market for cleaner cars, and there will still be a supply.
4
Deliberately making our cars dirtier will only make them dramatically these desirable as the rest of the world surges in the opposite direction.
President Trump and Administrator Pruitt -- doing their best to make American cars uncompetitive worldwide. As other nations move toward electric vehicles and increased fuel efficiency, our companies will be able to sell only to .... less than 4% of the world's population.
1
Maybe we can go back to changing our oil in the driveway and letting it drain in the grass. Or maybe asbestos shingles weren't so bad, bring those back. And lead paint, hey America could be the leader in producing lead paint. What about sweatshops for undocumented workers too. DDT! That stuff worked great on insect control. There's no limit to the amount of OSHA, Environmental and ethical guidelines this administration can undo. There seems to be an endless line of Yes Men ready to go nose deep behind Trump. Making it Great?
1
I wish the Environmental Protection Agency at least had the moral fortitude to rename itself.
Welcome to George Orwell's "1984." Of course the Ministry of the Environment is dedicated to destroying the environment and the climate.
Fortunately, millions of Americans have joined the Resistance and are fighting back.
1
"weaken greenhouse gas emissions and fuel economy standards for automobiles, handing a victory to car manufacturers and giving them ammunition to potentially roll back industry standards worldwide" The article's lede is 180 degrees off. This repeal will do nothing for American manufacturing. Nothing for the Auto worker, the supplier nor the manufacturer. It will make America less competitive both short and long term. They must be having saki toasts at Toyota and all the other offshore auto manufacturers will be celebrating. "Cheers...we don't have to beat the U.S. they will defeat themselves."
1
Giving us more evidence that the anti-regulation fox is firmly in the People's hen-house, Mr. Pruitt feels he must undo everything progressive Obama did.
Historically, our vehicle fleet already consumes significantly more fuel per mile than other nations. We already we fail to tax fuel, or vehicle registrants sufficiently to maintain our infrastructure, yet Pruitt thinks industry deserves more of a break - allowing them to build more of the heavier & thirstier vehicles their bottom line prefers.
Other countries don't use a system like CAFE, but use high fuel and registration taxes to encourage consumer behavior: as a result the average engine displacement in the EU is under 1.6 liters, with average horsepower of 130. China discourages displacement over 2.0 liters with higher taxes.
In the U.S., the F-150, this country's undisputed decades-long vehicle sales leader, ships with it smallest engine at 3.5 liters with 280 hp, seems 'normal.'
Bottom line up front: vote in November and take a switch to the imbecile in the WH and those who support his mean-spirited, ignorant ways.
The U.S. automobile industry sold 17 millon vehicles last year, a statistic that should have been cited immediately after Trump's moronic quote about letting the industry make cars again in the U.S. It's too important of an industry to let it slide back on environmental regs. What's next? "Seat belts are such a pain in my butt, get rid of them."
How I loathe the man.
2
And we don’t need smoke alarms, either. Or child safety seats.....
1
We the people, when our votes are not suppressed or gerrymandered by the GOP can make a difference.
VOTE and boycott.
Those are our tools.
I agree with posters here who suggested boycotting any tRump car that has had its omissions rolled back to pollute.
Buy more foreign cars. Leave the US in the dust.
5
It would have been useful if the Times had actually told readers exactly What rules might be relaxed. and How that might affect air quality, How Much.
Just lowering MPG targets for 2025?
This article tells us almost nothing except "we don;t like what they're doing"....even though we don't know what it is.
Test drive an electric car. You might assume, like I did, that they drive like golf carts. In fact, I can get to highway speed faster than any gas car I’ve owned. Haven’t spent a dime on gas since August, either.
4
This could be a catch for this pop up to center field: Boycott purchases of trump cars. Auto makers that do not meet or exceed current emission and fuel requirements would be designated Trump Cars. Boycott Trump car automakers. Create a mass movement.
7
I would like to see the list of auto makers, and their subsidiaries, that are producing or plan to produce cars with the rolled back emission standards, and help to make that list go viral. While we're at it -- perhaps a list of Congressmen and Senators who support the anti-environment rollback would be also be good to see.
Boycott.
9
GOOD !!
Those emission standards are strict enough already. There is a limit to what you can squeeze out of a gallon of fuel. Cars are already computer controlled with multiple sensors to regulate combustion, air flow, fuel flow, exhaust gasses, accelerator pedal input, etc, etc.
I was going to buy a Mercedes diesel van (not an expensive vehicle) until I discovered that it has to burn 5%, or less, of bio-diesel, otherwise the engine is damaged and it's not covered by the warranty. Engine repairs cost thousands of dollars. The real problem is that bio-diesel has been mandated throughout the USA and one can't determine the percentage of bio-diesel at the pump. I would be voiding the vehicle warranty and soon as I bought the thing because I would be not able to find suitable fuel.
1
Bad.
Because that will eliminate the US car industry in the longer haul.
1
You mean like Detroit? I'll never buy another American car until they stop making junk.
The Reagan Revolution started with the phrase “Government is the problem”. This resonated with some people, and has been amplified by those who knew they could profit from it. But it has grown so loud and gone so far that it could break society. Surely we need cops on the street to keep us safe. Nobody like waiting at traffic lights, but without them traffic would be chaos. Surely we can find some eloquent way to rebut a B movie actor’s most famous line?
2
"Reagan was the problem"?
I moved to Southern California after stricter emissions guidelines went in place. And we still experience heavy smog at times. I recently visited Santiago, Chile, a city similar in topography to Los Angeles with heavy emmissions and a an even heavier smog problem. We know what the result of this will be from a pollution standpoint. This rollback is bad policy.
7
We recall back in the 60”s and 70’s when automakers were dragged kicking and screaming towards achieving safer, more fuel efficient cars — from the viewpoint of a corporate boardroom these “onerous regulations” naturally appeared to be unnecessary and unwise government interference in a successful capitalist enterprise.
With the perspective of hindsight, however, and the evolving tastes of the American consumer, it’s puzzling that auto executives would be in favor of these rollbacks. While a case may certainly be made that these rollbacks may result in some short-term profit-taking, executives must realize that companies that choose to produce cleaner, more efficient cars will ultimately win the global marketplace.
4
Thanks to all the 62 million voters who supported this anti democratic administration. While the GOP is rolling back safe air omissions from our auto industry they are simultaneously attempting to take away our health care which we will need due to the roll back of safe and clean air protections.
13
Equate tomorrow's smog with today's voters; and it’s crickets in the heartland.
Equate tomorrow's rising fuel prices with today's voters; and it's a cacophony of interest.
It comes down to believing something or believing someone. The GOP life-long will remain comfortable believing Trump, Pruitt, Competitive Enterprise Institute, and conservative media mouthpieces serving oil interests.
Or .. believe that powerful corporations seek their money first and they find other interests to be mostly irrelevant. Pruitt is already removing oil producers' Clean Air/Water Acts-associated costs to improve profitability. However, oil prices remain low and oil interests want change.
Believe that oil financiers and producers are striving to create higher oil prices, especially by increasing demand.
Trump and Pruitt are eliminating "the rules would have cut oil consumption by about 12 billion barrels", so the prices can get back to rising. Both know; neither will admit.
8
Power to the people. NYT, please list the cars which "roll back" environmental safeguards, and we can choose not to buy them. A boycott works; in due time automakers will do the right thing, because they wish to make sales.
15
I would doubt that a reversal of the tailpipe rules would induce Americans to rush to the purchase of the 4.0 litre and above cars of old. Anyone watching American movies of the 1950's and 60's will see the huge cars that used to characterise US streets and highways. Some of the monsters had 5 & 6 litre engines and were heavier than the SUV's of today.
That kind of car is as obsolete as the steam trains that rattled across the nation in the late 19th century. Nostalgia there may be but they are not coming back.
Any move that might increase air pollution is naturally to be a cause of concern but it is questionable whether this reversal of the Obama era regulations will halt the natural progresion to more efficient and therefore more economical cars. Apart from the odd petrol head no one wants to increase the weekly gasoline bill.
There is merit in laws and regulations that keep people safe and no one wants to pollute the atmosphere with any more toxins. There is no sense however in making laws that are impossible to implement or that would be so costly as to make driving the preserve of the rich. Emissions targets need to be achievable, effective and affordable. Desirable is just not enough.
1
These emissions laws are NOT impossible to implement, Barry. They are already in place, so why roll them back now? For no reason than to please lobbyists.
Humans waste that which is plentiful. When fuel is cheap, we don't care about the pollution, we just love the lower pump price. It's not that anyone WANTS air pollution, but we are too lazy and self-centered to steward our planet.
UNLESS: the cost of fuel goes up to the point where we purchase a vehicle based on how much it will cost us at the pump.
Your arguments forget even our recent history of the oil embargo. Why did Japanese cars become so popular in America? Expensive gas. We fall back into wasteful patterns, although higher fuel efficiency standards have not exactly brought American consumers to their knees.
In the 70s and 80s, the American car manufacturers lawyered up and fought emission standards while the Japanese auto makers engineered up to make cars that met those standards. How did that work in the long run?
15
A large reason the American auto industry lost its top dog position in the 1970s and 1980s was that it refused to try to make cars cleaner and more efficient. They lobbied aggressively against regulations, claiming that cleaner cars were impossible. Many of us continued to "buy American" because we had family working in the industry, but many others chose efficiency and clean engines over the American gas guzzlers.
No one was more surprised than GM and Ford that they couldn't just put out junk cars and beat better vehicles being offered by the Japanese makers. One hopes that the American industry will not see this as "relief" from bad regulation, and will see that consumers want cleaner cars and more efficiency as much as plush seats and cup holders. Otherwise, there won't be any way the industry will recover from the coming bath they will take as the Japanese, Koreans, Germans and maybe even Chinese car makers will eat their lunch--again.
11
So don’t buy a vehicle from any company that reduces its admission standards.
14
The only way to push back is to STOP BUYING NEW CARS. Punish the car manufacturers, who have been pushing to relax these regulations (while speaking out of the other side of their mouths in their PR).
Remember the good old days when we drove cars for 10 years or more? We can do it again if it means our kids have a chance at a healthy clean environment. We have the power to hurt this administration by GOING SOLAR and STOP BUYING CARS.
14
Our car is 14 years old and still running well. But it's probably worse for the environment than a new car would be.
Always amazed at the focus on cafe standards. Why not raise the gas tax and let citizens make their own decision? Some want pickups with a 5.0; others might prefer an electric car. Let people pay for the level of pollution created.
3
This would only work if sanity were at play
in congressional and potus behavior. Say the
word "tax", and the majority in both chambers
run the other way like lemmings over cliffs.
I am encouraged by these reforms and agree that states, especially the state of California, should not be basis for federal policy. As a firm believer in states rights, I contend that states should determine their own emission standards. Thank you.
1
If Tennessee produced its own cars, then yeah... but Ford and GM have global businesses.
9
@Jon,
I disagree. Cars can be produced to meet certain requirements. If car companies make cars that can be driven on the right or left hand sides of the road, then they can make cars that produce emissions that meet state or global standards. Again, it goes back to the fact that Americans do not want California dictating to the rest of us what to do! California can do as it pleases, but don't expect the rest of us to the same! Thank you.
Totally agree...if your emissions stopped at your border and my loved ones didn't have to breathe it in.
2
Less auto (and other) emissions makes it easier to breath in big cities and the areas west of them.
Higher auto fuel efficiency reduces our nations dependency on fossil fuels, a resource that will eventually run out.
Both of these are admirable goals that can best be achieved by cost of not meeting the goals.
2
I have wanted to buy an American car for decades, but in the end I don't. I shall continue to speak first with my wallet, by buying a car from a company that pursues standards as they relate to efficiency, life span, safety and reliability. The planet deserves no less. And second, I will vote that preference in coming elections.
13
This move from the EPA doesn't surprise me but the enthusiasm for it by the U.S. auto industry leaves me a little baffled. It wasn't that long ago when Americans switched to smaller, better made, and more fuel-efficient foreign vehicles and the U.S. car sales plummeted. Now I carmakers think that consumers are willing to go back to driving gas guzzlers because they are cheaper? I think they will be in for a big shock when everyone is driving a Toyota hybrid or full electric while Impalas sit in the show room. The U.S. carmakers can simply say "no thanks", we're moving into the future. American car buyers would respect that.
9
We will have to vote with our wallets. The government is of, for and by industry, that half that is not dedicated to all things war. Like Prussia, we are an army with a country, that asks little more of its citizens than that they continue shopping, and watching their devices.
4
Trump & Pruitt aren't the only villains here. Why do so many of our fellow citizens choose giant trucks with oversized engines just to commute to work? Some of them don't even fit in a parking space. I've concluded that many men choose big trucks to compensate for the small size of their hands.
31
"Make American Great Again." This was the cry during the campaign from the man who would eventually be elected POTUS. By making our air less clean and putting people at risk for respiratory illnesses will weaken our nation. But then again a President who already has given his approval for the EPA to weaken regulations governing our pollutants to our waterways would move to hurt our air quality.
16
Several years ago I read a book co-authored by John Stauber and Sheldon Rampton, Toxic Sludge is Good For You. Now, it seems that is no longer a satirical observation as Trump and oil barons like the billionaire Koch brothers who control our country are betting that global warming and greenhouse gases emissions don't bother the richest American people, especially if their 401Ks rise and oil stock dividends keep rolling in.
Oil rigs are growing throughout the U.S. while safety and health regulations that were put in place after the BP Horizon oil rig explosion killed 11 people and caused major environmental pollution in the Gulf states' economies.
But, no matter to the Trump regime who have seized on the opportunity to further empower the super rich while impoverishing the poorest of American citizens and polluting our air and water.
Oilprice.com reported, "Larry Bucshon, a Republican from Indiana, is promoting House Bill HR 5270, the Electricity Reliability and Fuel Security Act, which would provide a bailout for the coal industry of about $3.5 to $3.7 billion per year for each of the next five years. The total would come to a total of approximately $17.5 billion to $18.5 billion in income tax credits.
The bill would give owners of coal-fired power plants a tax credit for 30 percent of their operation and maintenance costs or $13 multiplied by the nameplate capacity of the plant, whichever is lesser. "
Short term monetary gains, long term environmental disaster.
14
I don't want to be forced to buy a coal powered car or a tiny econobox which would be the only vehicle affordable under the rules California wants. If they want to burden their consumers with expensive, very limited designs needed to meet these rules and if the people of California allow this. good for them, but why should the rest of the people be forced to do so?
Modern cars are already nearly emission free. That battle has been won and, obviously, given the overwhelming choices people make to buy pickups and SUV's nobody cares abut CO2 outside of a small number of activists.
Small cars kill people, it's that simple and I don't choose either the risk or the inconvenience to "solve" some theoretical problem 100 years down the road!
People make their choices and there are all electric cars available if they want them. So far not many do and we are citizens, not servants! We should NOT be forced to buy what we do not want because a small activist fringe demands it.
1
Please just look at a list of the most popular cars per units sold and see what kinds of vehicles are at the top of the list, every year.
4
Your grandchildren demand it.
Why do you think our present cars are as clean as they are?
Bring back lead in gasoline, it makes for better mileage. We can be like China, free masks for everyone. I don’t understand your thinking.
Soon to come - additional tariffs on imported cars that are more fuel efficient and less polluting. When GM and Chrysler-Fiat start to go under- again - there will be another bailout. As long as Ford keeps making the F-150, they will be fine regardless.
Then there will be another fuel crisis and suddenly, fuel economy will become important again and US manufacturers will be behind the curve - again.
9
Hopefully the auto industry won't take the bait. I have a 20 year old car, am due to buy a new car, and my family always bought American made cars. However, if American auto companies choose to follow suit and roll back standards, I will not be buying an American car in the future.
15
Gutting EPA emissions standards is deleterious to our environment and to the competitiveness of American manufacturers in global markets. For example, the recently touted trade deal with South Korea includes an increase on the number of vehicles American automobile manufacturers can export to South Korea, even though American manufacturers have not been meeting the previous lower number. South Koreans simply do not want American vehicles because our vehicles are typically too large, too inefficient, too polluting, and not as safe as those available in South Korea and from many other nations. Once again, Trump and Pruitt are looking backwards rather than forward, and in so doing, are harming our planet, our relationships with allies, and American workers.
4
This is good news. I'm keeping my pre-1996 model year vehicles on the road and my newest vehicle being 26 years old, so far, I have avoided the OBD II mandates. Abolish the mandated OBD II inspection program and maybe....JUST MAYBE...I'll consider buying a newer vehicle in the coming years.
Look at where Europe and China are heading with electric and fuel cell vehicles. If the US industry wants to remain relevant over the next couple of decades it would do better to focus on those future realities than try to hang onto the past.
16
The death wish of nearly half of all Americans is embodied by this sick administration and their supporters' blind enthusiasm for any and all acts they take as purported stewards of our nation's heritage.
The other half of us wonder how America is to be made "great again" by allowing the air our children breathe to be filled with more pollutants...or by serving them water filled with invisible carcinogens.
This administration is rolling back as many safety nets as they can, as fast as they can, and as much under the cover of darkness as they can...and we wonder how that makes America "great" - now or ever.
Dirtier, less efficient cars are just one example of many dozens of acts that will cause more physical and mental health problems...at a time when the "leadership" of this country sees its citizens as unworthy of health care, and undeserving of aid for the treatment of disease, for the provision of the necessities of life, and for support into old age.
This is just one more way in which those in charge are "making out like bandits"...an apt phrase, if ever there was one.
17
Car buyers need to tell the car companies that they will not buy their products if they don't meet higher environmental standards.
We don't need cheaper cars. We need cleaner cars.
17
This is why voting matters. So, if you are not completely thrilled with your candidate, consider the alternative.
When the voters did not vote for Mrs. Clinton, they got a conservative Supreme Court candidate and an administration that wants to roll back environmental protections and wants to privatize education and veterans health care. There seems to be no concerns about the qualifications of cabinet members (See, Housing, Carson).
I have been voting for 46 years, and I always vote, even if it means voting for the lesser of two evils. (Obama is the only president that I voted FOR). Remember to vote this Congress OUT in November, 2018.
22
Don’t forget though that Hillary won the popular vote by almost 3 million. That’s the shame of it all. Abolish the electoral college.
Umn, Doesn't Trump know that China is trying to catch up to the United States in terms of electric car technology? We won't be "winners" if takes us back to 1970.
12
iirc, California is so populous that they have forced manufacturers to march to the beat of their drum. Here's hoping they can do it again.
Also why aren't republicans angry at the 2nd amendment, after all it severely reduces state's rights to make decisions.
7
This may benefit American automakers in the short term. In the long term it will hurt them as American cars become less and less marketable anywhere but here. It will of course be a great boon to the fossil fuel industry as any attempt to move Americans toward clean energy is a threat to their profits.
11
Ordering automakers to build a 55 mpg pickup truck is as sensible as passing a law that Congress must operate within a balanced budget with no tax increases: not possible within the laws of finance and physics.
2
This will create jobs - for pulmonary specialists, asthma ward equipment suppliers, and undertakers.
14
This is great news for American consumers. The Obama administration admitted before congress that their new emissions standards would have ZERO effect in reducing climate change while imposing a huge regulatory burden on the auto industry.
1
Could you come up with when and by whom this statement was made?
3
Yes. Great news for American consumers. Not such great news for American breathers though.
2
Credible, verifiable sources?
1
Subaru, an offshoot of Toyota, has plants in the United States operating so conscientiously as to be considered nature preserves. With rollbacks of Obama's Cafe standards - and, really, undoing everything Obama's done doesn't really count as policy making or strategy, does it? - this company is likely to rethink its commitment to continue manufacturing in our country. Aren't factory jobs in America's heartland supposed to matter to Trump?
Thanks for the offer to make us pay more for retooled factories and gas guzzlers, Trump, but I'd rather keep the Subaru plant humming along as it is in Indiana. I like the idea of keeping the jobs and aiming for safer, higher mileage vehicles produced in cleaner factories with fewer recalls and scandals than the venerated Big Three.
(And, say, does this new love for gas guzzling have anything to do with your new pallsy ménage with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia? Asking for a friend...)
23
Subaru isn't an offshoot of Toyota, Toyota own 16.5% of Subaru's parent company, Fuji Heavy Industries.
I think we consumers could effect the auto industry by making sure we only buy and drive energy efficient, clean vehicles. Maybe the auto industry would attempt to please those who purchase their product if it meant more sales.
13
Polluting American cars will not be legal on the roads of Europe, Japan, etc.
So now the Trump Administration can accuse these countries of unfairly prohibiting US imports.
10
No, the automakers will make clean cars for the foreign market and pollute our beautiful country with high emissions to save a few cents.
1
Ahh, America land of declining emission standards while the rest of the world goes electric and solar, ensuring it's key industries obsolescence. Land of the standard system of measures while the rest of the world is metric. A level of gun ownership and violence in numbers that place it with other nations in the developing world and war torn nations. Where huge numbers of its people do not have access to affordable healthcare, and such a growing level of systemic grand corruption within government that it can scarcely be called a democracy... A culture of flag waving and war that can only be compared to Imperial rather than democratic nations. A nation where the so-called religious right help elect a man who represents the very worst of us and humanity. No longer the shining city on a hill, but a nation held in contempt and fear by a large portion of the developed world. We have fallen from grace, we have fallen hard.
30
Only Americans that travel outside this country to other democratic nations around the world understand that America is not the shining city on the hill.
One of largest growing areas in the USA, the greater metro Salt Lake City area (from Ogden down to Provo) has been plagued by polluted air and "inversions" for a long time. It is getting worse and good data proves this problem is associated with respiratory illness in adults as well as in children. What is the role of government? To empower car makers to kill us?
14
Gee. Another thing Mr. Trump and his minions are doing that I have to try explaining to my friends in Canada and Europe.
Mr. Trump seems to think this will make the U.S. a world leader in automobiles again. I guess he missed the memo about cars and trucks in other nations all getting better fuel mileage than American models.
11
"Mr. Trump said at a Detroit auto research facility in March last year. “We want to be the car capital of the world again. We will be, and it won’t be long.”
This could be a hollow victory for Trump because the amount of air pollution and other contaminates being put back into the environment due to weaken greenhouse gas emissions and fuel economy standards for automobiles from the proposed roll back EAP rules will hasten the demise of more people than ever, especially those with lung related issues.
Once again, people, not businesses, will suffer and fell the full burden of these actions.
6
If you have been to cities like Beijing, Manila, Calcutta, or Delhi, you know your throat hurts and your eyes sting. If you are asthmatic or have other chronic respiratory conditions, the air can literally kill you. Do we really want to emulate the worst of the developing world by going backward? Do we really want to add even more carbon to the air and speed the destruction of the environment of the only planet we have? Vote Democratic for every single local and federal office in order to eradicate this madness from our government. Vote with your pocketbook by refusing to buy from automakers which value short-term profits over our health and planet. Vote for your children’s lives and future.
23
I agree. Buy European or Asian automobiles. These car are more efficient, more reliable and have better resale value.
I witnessed the reasons for the creation of the EPA and regulations to reduce air, water, and soil pollution. Over time, I witnessed the benefits these regulations had on the health of Americans. Many may not recall the birth defects, the cancers, the inexplicable physical symptoms, the deaths that advances in medical research now attribute to harmful compounds released by polluting industries. Many may not realize rivers burned in flames due to pollutants and people choked in thick smog fueled by car and industrial emissions. People died. Children died. Something is terribly wrong with the current administration.
33
Have none of these car manufacturers sent representatives to China? Have they not noticed what will happen to their own country with roll-backs? Do they think of their own children and grandchildren? Why not keep it simple and follow California's stricter regulations and be done with it? I honestly don't see how Americans would balk at paying a bit more - aren't we already doing it? It just makes no sense on any level.
11
Please do consider:
About 40% of field corn acreage goes to manufacturing corn ethanol. The more of that you burn, the more soil goes down the creeks, the more nitrogen and phosphorus go to the Gulf of Mexico adding to the Dead Zone, the more neonicotinoids insecticides go on to seed treatments further reducing insect biodiversity, the more habitat for Monarch butterflies is destroyed, and the more we stay on this unsustainable path of industrial agriculture. The more corn you burn driving your big ride down the hard road, the more wild land that is converted to soy land in Brazil, greatly increasing the release of CO2 into the atmosphere. So, in understanding how the world really works, how can lowering the CAFE standards be viewed as any kind of progress?
10
This is far from being a win for the automakers. There is a very real possibility Trump will lose the next election. With that loss, the EPA rules will definitely change again. The new rules may be a lot more restrictive than the current ones are, because the Democrats are likely to show no mercy the next time around. Automakers should think long and hard about their planning decisions.
15
".... American market could find itself an industry laggard, ceding leadership in clean vehicle technology to markets like China or the European Union". Well, this is pretty obvious. Weakening fuel efficiency standards will hasten the decline.
As with Trumps attempt's to cripple the solar energy market, turning the CAFE standards backwards will backfire.
The so-called business men running this country have the intelligence and financial smarts of a horse and buggy owner.
Electric cars will gain a greater share of the market within a few years and US cars with 25mpg fuel efficiency standards will be obsolete. The auto makers are smarter than this, right?
7
Probably not, they are stupid and greedy, and a little delusional as well.
I lived for 2 years in a place with no auto emissions standards. The contrast with what I was used to in the US was stark. The busiest streets stank of gas, and dirty clouds could be seen permanently hanging over them.
Sad, stupid, and short-sighted policy.
32
If the Trump administration really wanted to help consumers and the automotive industry, a much more significant and bold move would be to work with European leaders and automakers to craft consistent vehicle standards. Not only in emissions and fuel economy but in crash and safety regulations as well. This would not only dramatically reduce costs for manufacturers by eliminating costly variations on the same vehicle, but it would open up much more choice to buyers on both sides of the Atlantic. There are a lot of excellent vehicles available in Europe that are not brought to our shores due to the cost to bring them into compliance. And the same goes for cars built in the US that are not sold in Europe.
But this would require vision and compromise. Two concepts that seem to be in short supply these days.
11
God bless California. We do these things, not because they are easy but because they are hard.
And some things really are worth more than money. If we don't get ourselves off the gas habit, we're going to end up with air quality like China.
17
Sad to know this. Hope other countries still enforce those improvements on Auto Mfg. At least in India govt has no plan to roll back efforts to improve emission goals.
2
Thank God, Mr President and Republican Congress,
Not caring about clean air or global warming is one of MY deepest concerns. And if for some reason we're wrong and we bring on a global catastrophe, well, we'll just pray for guidance at that point and divine intervention will help! Besides, I don't believe in science, so science can't hurt me.
PS Why are insurance companies and the military creating detailed plans for coming global warming?
12
This deregulation gives consumers more choice. Consumer like myself who can manage with a small car will continue to have that choice. However, the trades person that I hire to fix my roof will be able to purchase a large pickup truck. A large family will now still be able to buy a minivan that seats seven. This flexibility in vehicles is better for everyone.
It isn't about consumer choice.
It's about breathable air, for everyone.
18
Trade people and large families can already purchase pickup trucks and minivans now. This decision does not add more consumer choices--it only adds more pollution, which ought to concern families with children. Consumers can also choose a healthy environment and avoid those car manufacturers that do not share their values.
5
It isn’t about “consumer choice”; it’s about making each different type of vehicle run as cleanly and efficiently as possible. I’m sure the “trades person” would be happy if their pickup truck required less fuel, and the family with the minivan would be grateful if their young inhabitants of the van had cleaner air to breathe.
2
The Trump appeal is clear, to both individuals and companies: We will never ask you to strive. We will never ask you to improve yourself. We will never ask you to consider the commonwealth or the needs of others. You are perfect, and it is time we stopped the elitist bullies from picking on you.
13
well haven't all the automakers started complying in 2012 and spent billions of dollars to upgrade their Manufacturing to export and import cars that are fuel efficient and better for the planet? So why would they go in reverse and undo all of this expensive upgrading just because a president that won't last one term is undoing what they've already paid to do for the last 5 -15 Years?
10
Wonder if Volkswagen will now argue for relief from the fines imposed for its shenanigans in allowing excessive and unlawful diesel exhausts to be generated by vehicles employing artful software.
11
So, along with a lot of other regulations to protect the land and our water, now we will have changes to the protections for what we breathe. The political right talks about saving America for their grandkids. Given the health hazards being reinstituted in USA daily life, no worry, maybe there won't be any grandkids!
13
it's stuff like this that provides the occasion for all-out attacks on the trump administration...time to cancel the continual drone of personal abuse and get into some serious attention to trump (or any other potus's) policies that threaten our freedoms and our planet.
time to roll out deeper inquires (past harm done to alternative fuel research by car makers' k street agents).
the harm in store here is not only a similar excuse for neglecting the development zero emission vehicle technology, but irremediable damage to the atmosphere (aka the air we breathe)...so let the necessary outcry exceed the petty partisan blather in its intensity and, more important, its cogency.
immigration reform, for starters,
and infrastructure (true progressives should press for a WPA-type mobilization of its work force), and, even more urgent, theses days, school safety (actual school building and management fixes, not just more of the endless gun-control contention that, in essence, is, though related, a separate issue that puts no new barriers to shooters looking to enter schools).
so, here's a chance for the fourth estate to reclaim the trust lost in partisan bickering and get on with its job, free pursuit and publication of the facts that inform public debate.
7
This is just plain old fashioned corruption.
That stricter emission standards lead to more expensive cars is a total myth.
With where technology is now, rolling back emissions means car manufacturers can roll back and use old obsolete technology that is substantially cheaper, yet they’ll still sell the cars at current market prices - which translates into wider profit margins.
23
There is no sane reason for the rollbacks; if they happen, they will be a product of unmitigated malice and greed, and we will all suffer for it.
I spend a lot of time in a part of California that is highly polluted. I drive an electric vehicle and can produce all the energy it needs and more from solar panels on our roof. This helps not only the planet and our health, but also our national security.
Yet many see it as unAmerican; they have bought the GOP lies and propaganda, including the lie that associates strength and patriotism and independence with huge, gas-guzzling vehicles.
A functioning democracy depends on people who strive fpr truth, for facts. This is in short supply lately. The many lies coming from this administration and the GOP, and the people who are gullible enough to believe them, may yet be our nation's downfall.
24
As a consumer and neighbor, I'll still pick the clean car every time.
16
If this reporting about the automakers' advocacy of much lower CAFE standards is correct, then it is clear that it was a mistake for the Obama administration to rescue the automakers. All of them would have gone bankrupt without the federal government's $billions. Deservedly so, it seems.
US automakers haven't ever shown that they have any ability to sustain their business anyways. Chrysler has been bankrupt twice; GM, once. US automakers fumbled away their technological edge to the Japanese because automakers didn't invest in modernization and thought building reliable cars was not remunerative. Then, carmakers needed protectionist policies to guard their US market. If gas prices rise unexpectedly, and when overseas consumers reject American cars because the US has reneged on its climate commitments, US automakers may face real problems. Don't look to me for any help.
14
This is similar to pulling out of the Paris climate accord; the world will just move ahead with or without the United States. However, here are two reasons Trump will not succeed in weakening auto emission standards:
1. European regulations will not weaken therefore American auto manufacturers will be compelled to maintain high standards globally. Economically, it is not viable to maintain different plants producing lower quality for the American market while maintaining higher standards in Europe, Australia, etc.
2. California's higher emission and safety standards have always driven production for the rest of the country. For the same reason as above, auto manufacturers do not manufacture two models - higher quality for California and another for the rest of the country. It makes economic sense to build high quality for everyone.
The machinery of government moving very slowly will probably mitigate some of the havoc Trump is wreaking on this country.
10
Consumer groups will identify any maker that slips back into the old dirty, greed-focused standards and they will suffer for it.
1
We in California are proud of how much we have cleaned up our air. It has us $billions in medical treatments alone. If your car does not met the states standards, you can not sell it her, even if it is a used car.
I have suggested to my assemblyman, that if the car companies begin building dirty cars again, we set up monitoring posts at our entry stations, and refuse to let them enter the state or if they do, they pay a surtax to drive it here, even if it is just someone on vacation. Of course the Republicans do not care how many children get asthma from dirty car emissions, or how many older people suffer from COPD, they jut care about their wallets, and not the health and welfare of the rest of us.
12
I'm not a Republican, but that is a crummy thing to say about them. They aren't without compassion for sick children, and many have children with asthma, just like Dems! Forget about setting up your "station" for inspections on the state lines of California to check cars, since nobody I know would buh a car that doesn't meet standards, as set forth by the previous administration.
How much environmental regulation is enough? Thousands of factories have moved out of the USA to places like China, in part because of regulation. The factories in China have little or no environmental regulation. And then the finished product must be shipped to the other side of the planet, thereby causing a net INCREASE in pollution, compared to having more moderate regulation and producing the product here.
2
Industries were not moved overseas because of regulations they were moved because greedy industrialist and the politicians they own allowed it to happen to increase their profits at the expense of American jobs and.people. We.could be the leader in alternative clean energy and the tens of thousands of jobs that go with it but instead the fossil fuel lobby and is greedily pushing for more drilling and fracking as China steps up to become tbe world leader in the future.
11
Have you seen the pictures of people in Chinese cities wearing face masks because the pollution is so bad? Also this article concerns the pollution emitted by cars after they are produced. I never heard that requiring cars to pollute less drove manufacture of cars to China.
Nonsense...they have moved out to do more business...it is a huge market like the American market. You just show your ignorance with your argument. Try taking a trip to China or Europe and then complain about how horrible the air quality is. And I hope your complaint falls on deaf ears, as deaf as yours in fact.
Of course this could only "work" if tariffs on foreign cars go up, so we all know where this is headed.
As to "(...)handing a victory to car manufacturers and giving them ammunition to potentially roll back industry standards worldwide." --> That is not going to happen. The rest of the world, together with coastal States, take climate change seriously and almost all foreign car brands have announced more electric and hybrid cars in their range. It would be illegal to enter many European cities with American gas guzzlers due to strict emission standards.
7
Where is Congress? I guess Republicans are going to continue twiddling their thumbs while Trump rules the country as if government is a business. Oh, how the Republicans howled when Obama signed executive orders because he finally gave up on Congress. The Democrats should be trying to introduce legislation - let the Republicans openly refuse to consider it.
19
Form what I learned about US Politics, I find this confusing. I used to think that states' rights were an absolutely central dogma, especially for conservatives. So, why cannot states like California or New York set their own emission standards, if their democratically elected parliaments and institutions decide to do this, based on of solid scientific evidence, to protect the health and better lives of their citizens?
17
They have! And Trump will lose once again.
3
impeach the fool before he kills us all for a few dollars from his criminal buddys
25
Thanks Trump voters. Glad you're enjoying your coal jobs and huge corporate tax cuts. I have asthma.
28
"We want to be the car capital of the world again."
How is America going to become the car capital of the world by making cars from 1977? Other countries aren't going to buy cars that spew smog. Even China and India are tightening emission standards, because they see the writing on the wall (or rather, in the air quality of Beijing and Mumbai.) By getting in Trump's time machine, this country is making itself obsolete.
47
They probably plan to do this in their usual way, by playing dirty and more or less extorting the countries in question. The recent KORUS renegotiation was most likely done under the shadow of NK. All the inflammatory rhetoric that came before and the heightening of tensions has played nicely for them to squeeze South Korea into renegotiation and force them to accept more American cars that few people in that country are interested in. In fact, this administration has stoked the fire so nicely that they could look at renegotiating further deals in the region.
Oh, hell no! Richard Nixon is rolling over in his grave. And that is not a good thing. I went door to door for McGovern as a 16 year old in 1972, could not abide Richard Nixon as a second term president, but he did give us the EPA. The current president is just absolutely disgusting in the way he is selling out our country and our future. Enough, I say, enough!
28
The administration's desire to help the economic bottom line of auto manufacturers will not hold up as a convincing rationale under the Administrative Procedure Act. I am optimistic that this rollback, if it happens, will be rejected in court.
10
everyday there is a new and worse idea coming from this administration, and yet a recent poll has trump gaining in popularity among those polled. what am i not understanding ? will it take a significant economic downturn for his supporters to stop supporting him ?
12
How much press does the urgency of air pollution, and global warming get? None on a regular basis in most media outlets? How much coverage does this move at the EPA get on Fox News and Facebook? Or anywhere else for that matter? Meanwhile, what about Stormy Daniels? Who doesn't know her name at this point?
Vote vote vote.
27
So once again we will have to ask “why buy an American car when there are so many better alternatives?”. Not a good time to start buying Ford stock.
23
Ford has innovative more than any other manufacturer in increasing fuel economy in the all important North American pickup market. No one else makes an light weight aluminum bodied pickup truck, the F150. The best selling vehicle in America and made by organized labor!
1
There is no cure for stupid. Pruitt is simply stupid and that stupidity is acted out as evil.
Selfish, dangerous, greedy, arrogant, repugnant, harmful, short-sighted, mean-spirited, deceitful and in every possible way......DISGUSTING.
D I S G U S T I N G. D I S G U S T I N G!!!!!
46
This is a disgrace. We have smog in Phoenix from vehicles already. You can see it form over the valley every morning. You can breath it and know something is wrong. We have regular health warnings in the winter. Gas is very expensive already. Why are we going backwards on fuel efficiency and emissions standards? This decision seems to benefit only the petro/auto industry, at the expense of our health and wealth. Our current government undermines our nation at every turn. Their exit can't come soon enough. Yet another outrageously bad move by Traitor Trump. May he find a nice jail cell to live out his days. Lock Him Up!
48
Since when has the EPA's mandate been to make cars more affordable for consumers? A law should be written that blocks any department head from undermining the mission statement of that department. In this case, ensuring clean air and protecting the environment.
27
Buy electric! Pres. Trump can't stop capitalism.
They'll never take my Volt!
27
But maybe they’ll mandate that electricity be generated using coal.
Talk about going back to the Stone Age. If American car manufacturers stop making fuel efficient/ environmentally friendly cars, then they will lose business to foreign manufacturers. This is exactly what happened when the US car industry killed an attempt by the state of California to improve air quality standards. The only manufacturer that contined to develop the electric vehicle back then was Toyota. No wonder you see so many Prisus' on the road today. Why would we want to repeat this mistake? It is obvious that Trump is doing the bidding of the fossil fuel industry. He is taking care of his special interest groups. Is he taking care of you, your family or our country's future? I don't think so.
28
Right; So this means whatever vehicles I buy that are hi-bred, electric, substantially reduce carbon emissions, use non-polluting technology, will not be bought from the part of the American auto industry that has lost its integrity. It will sink the American auto industry that was going under until Obama leveraged lower emissions standards as part of the bail-outs that in turn saved the domestic industry. Kiss all that goodbye! The world's gonna' move on without American leadership, which we are giving away at every turn. Putin keeps getting everything he paid for in DJT and this Chaos administration.
29
Next up, Trump will be bringing back jobs in the VCR repair field and other industries we have long since moved on from.
Why on earth would we even contemplate reversing pollution standards? Do we really want American cars to be the worst in the world? It truly boggles the mind.
48
Make America Great for Betamax Again!
1
I predict that taxpayers will be forced to bailout US automakers again... Tesla excluded ...as foreign makers outpace them in real innovations which doesn’t mean more cup holders.
14
no let them and their workers go under this time - let the auto workers get jobs at burger king
8
Why the urge to punish auto workers? They don't run the EPA; they don't run the auto manufacturing companies. None of this is their fault.
You don't have to wait till November, or 2020, to vote. You can vote with your wallet. Buy vehicles from companies who care about gas mileage and care about the planet, and don't buy from companies that want to relax mileage standards. Buy cars that get good mileage, not bad. You may pay a little more now, (and the difference is coming down) or eventually we will all pay a lot more later. Money speaks - companies understand this, heck even Trump understands this.
22
Yet another reason to buy in Canada.
You can bet their air quality standarda will remain high.
That's a boon for U.S. auto manufacturers and their captive "goober" market, because they won't be able to export their polluting gas-hogs to other countries. Remember the Arab oil embargos in the 70's? Gas prices skyrocketed, eternal lines at filling stations, and suddenly: Many Americans were buying small, well made, fuel efficient, reasonably priced, Japanese autos... The actual push in countries with REAL leadership is to phase out gasoline powered vehicles ASAP, and go with electrics. Pruitt and his greedy gang are writing the testament for the U.S. Auto Industry, and insuring that fellow Americans will get mortally sick from air pollution. So much winning!
16
We are pigs who support even bigger pigs. Where is the outrage? When are the protests? Why are we so passive about handing off to future generations the degradation of both our integrity and the environment?
15
Our descendants will look back on these people with such disgrace.
21
If we have any.
9
What descendants?
4
Thank you Donald. It is soooo reassuring to know that our air is too clean and our water is too pure for ourselves and our children.
8
222 more days and it will be fixed.
13
Mr. Pruit, my "basic right to choose" should include the choice of breathing clean air; letting manufacturers off the hook on designing clean, fuel efficient vehicles will adversely affect the health of all americans.
16
The Republican Party in Washington.. Watch out we are coming for you.. We the smart people will not let you destroy our air, our water, our food, our health, our children, our legacy, our Future. We will bury you and regulate you to the dust bin of history. The blue wave is coming!!!
27
A truly brilliant policy decision...in an alternate universe, that is. Because, as we all know, only Democrats and liberals are negatively affected by air, water, and food pollution.
20
Is trump/Pruitt admitting that US carmakers can not compete globally, and therefore they must rollback CAFE standards, so “Detroit can become a car capital again”?
7
This is disgraceful, and more than un-American, it's inhumane. Why do tailpipe emissions have to be increased to make cars in America? Aren't we "great" enough to figure this out? Obviously, lesser countries (in Trump's squinty eyes) have. No wonder Barron never smiles. He probably realizes that his father is letting his people poison him.
8
Dragging America back into the past doesn't benefit anyone but our competitors.
16
Foreign interests who may have paid for this.
I was born in downtown Los Angeles and grew up in a an LA County suburb in the 1950's. There were days in grammar school with smog so bad that we were kept inside during recess. Eyes stung, breathing was shallow, and the hot air was a dirty tan. Our tract home was in a new neighborhood carved out of an orange grove and came with an incinerator for trash burning plus an orange tree in the backyard. Soon the incinerator and the tree were gone, but the cars remained and multiplied. Scientists soon discovered that the problem was the cars, and research and regulation brought about a slow though sometimes unsteady actual cleansing of the air.
We need to keep at it, not go back to the thick, brown skies of the past. Human beings really shouldn't be in arid LA in large numbers, but if we must, let's do it as cleanly as we can.
Or maybe bring back backyard incinerators, ban catalytic converters, reissue Oldsmobile 98's and revive legislated discrimination.
Or let's not. Save Your Lungs! Vote Democrat in 2018!
18
So we bail out GM and this is the thanks we get? Don't buy American.
15
For how much longer must California fund a government whose values, priorities and policies are immoral and ruinous?
It is bad enough that the government of the United States acts in such a manner. It is INTOLERABLE that we must fund it, which we do by paying FAR MORE in federal taxes than we receive in federal benefits -- the very reverse of the mean-spirited, welfare Red States, which talk a nasty game, but in fact receive FAR MORE in federal benefits than they pay in federal taxes, especially the states of the Old South and Texas.
The only infrastructure initiatives we have seen in California from the Trump/Republican party has been to BLOCK our rapid-rail train programs and to LOBBY to spend billions on a stupid wall that only expresses hatred towards Mexicans, but does nothing useful.
Now they are coming after our protections of clean air and our efforts to mitigate global warming, using our tax funds to do so.
When at last do we say, "no longer, we do not recognize you, we do not belong to the same country"?
14
YES, Calexit!! Not only are we not respected, but often maligned by the very states that benefit from our taxes.
"Don't bite the hand that feeds you", figuratively and literally since CA supplies 50% of all the produce the U.S. eats (mostly using immigrant labor no less).
We will fight to stay diverse, clean, and progressive!
As the world's 6th largest economy we have the strength to stand our ground. Calexit!
14
I urge all Califorians to fight this tooth and nail. Don't let Trump destroy your state.
7
The Environmental Protection Agency under 45 had become the Environmental Pollution Agency that has no regard for is mission.
10
While U.S. auto manufacturers were fighting auto safety standards in the 1970s, Japanese auto manufacturers focused on building safe, affordable, 4 wheel drive wagons that families wanted to buy.
While U.S. auto manufacturers fought against better fuel efficiency standards, Japanese auto manufacturers set about building efficient hybrid-electric vehicles. When gas prices rose in 2011-2012, S.U.V.s lost most of their appeal. They may be making something of a comeback thanks to Americans' short memories, but it will likely be short-lived.
American auto manufacturers are as determined as ever to cede the future to others. In another decade, as small, autonomous, electric vehicles enter the market and eventually become commonplace, they will no doubt be terribly puzzled at how they came to lose all their market share.
22
Notice to EPA head and U.S. car manufacturers: who wants to buy a gas-guzzling or diesel-fuel )polluting vehicle with poor GPM? That era has passed.
17
You ask, "Who wants to buy a gas-guzzling or diesel-fuel )polluting vehicle with poor GPM?"
The answer is, "Americans". The three top selling vehicles last year were
1) Ford F-150 pickup trucks
2) Chevy Silverado pickup trucks
3) Ram pickup trucks
Most of the rest of the top 20 are SUVs or cross-overs. The models with the largest decline in sales were all small fuel-efficient cars like the Toyota Corolla (-13%).
1
Ford, GM and Chrysler cannot make enough trucks to meet demand. Each year the power and torque of the engines increases.
It is easier to accept a country as world leader if it stands not only on a military and economical might but also on a morally, intelligently and technologically high ground. Otherwise it leaves resentment for being subservient which will erupt sooner or later and push the world into turmoil. I miss Obama, who I didn't realize until recently seems to have left so much resentment in Americans like Trump perhaps because he stood too aloof, which is exactly the quality we could easily appreciate from afar. I suppose we have to wait until the majority of Americans realize how excellent Obama was on the world stage.
13
Whether the regulations are there or not, American manufacturers need to keep up with global innovation or else it will be the end of them domestically and internationally. Contrary to this administration's dishonest excuses, regulations such as the ones they are gutting actually push innovation forward and keep us competitive.
15
Pruitt has always been funded and awarded by the oil industry. This situation in the US with going backwards in pushing fossil fuels is appearing to be some coordination with Rosneft oil. Just google it.
14
The US is third largest car exporter in the world, and the majority of the countries who buy our cars and trucks have strict emissions standards, especially the ones that buy expensive luxury cars. I'm sure Japan and Germany are thrilled with the US decision to hamstring a $53.8 billion dollar industry.
16
The automakers that are pushing for this rollback are on the wrong side of history. They are choosing to maximize short term profit at the expense of the future of life on this beautiful planet we all share. The expense of my children's future and their children's and grandchildren's future.
I will never buy a car from one of these companies again. Tesla, how do I get on the waiting list for the Model 3?
22
I drive a Ford Fusion Hybrid. 80,000 miles and counting with life time miles of 42.5 mpg. It is one of the best cars I have ever owned. Even wear on tires, have never needed a break job still rolling on my second set of tires. Have never needed a front end alignment either. The car has been green and economical. Nearly 600 miles on a tank of gas about $23 every time I fill up. I will drive it into the ground and then replace with electric. Living in Florida and doing my part to keep rising sea levels at bay. Vote Blue!
19
Arrrr... sailorgirl. Trade it soon and get another before the repair bills hit.
This will be the end of the US automotive industry and concedes leadership in innovation to the EU and China.
19
Gee, soon we will be like China and India with polluted air and people dying from it! Mr. Pruitt must not think he needs to breathe.
18
It's entertaining that the people who are commenting on how bad this policy change is all seem to live in cities that have air quality problems. The people in NY,NJ, California take a deep breath and smell the pollution. It is certainly appropriate for them to buy small, high gas mileage autos that are expensive and then to limit the miles they drive. Carpool.
What they do not grasp is that the rest of the country has clean air, clean water. It is not reasonable to demand the rest of the country subsidize their air quality problems.
1
Bad air quality doesn't stop at state borders. Just because you have "clean" air now doesn't mean you will in future. Isn't it better to pursue technology that helps the environment rather than waiting until it's too late?
14
It is each one of us for social responsibility to take good care of our environment. Our future generations' health is at risk.
I live in AZ where it is loaded with big trucks and giant SUVs. People don't care.
9
NYC has the some of cleanest water of any major metropolitan area in the U.S. (and the world) thanks to strict monitoring and regulations. After having moved from there to "The rest of the country" it's ill informed comments like yours that paint "all them lost city slickers" with a broad stroke that bug me as much as I'm sure you are bugged by their perceptions of you.
BTW smaller cities (usually ringed by mountains) like Tuscon and Asheville NC etc have smog problems due to traffic. And we all know smaller cities like Flint Michigan have water problems. There are toxic chemical sites all over rural and semi-rural areas due to lax rural state regulations and clean-up (NC for one).
Things are certainly "not cleaner" everywhere else and your comment is way off the mark.
4
As a consumer who places a value on environmental factors when making large purchases, e.g. new car, this is a real disappointment. I can and will take my business to companies that shares my values and reflect them in the products they produce.
The American automobile industry is missing a huge opportunity to lead the way in the development of fuel efficient vehicles. What a wasted opportunity
31
Never let greed exceed intelligence.
Never let hate exceed intelligence.
Never let pride exceed intelligence.
Under the legal concepts of "Standards of Care and the Reasonable Person Test," I believe Scott Pruitt and the Trump administration can be held accountable in court for unreasonable damage. That damage will be caused by unilaterally reversing laws, regulations, and guidelines developed through sound science and transparent deliberations to protect all American citizens. Their reasons for reversing environmental protections have nothing to do with sound science and transparent process. Their reasons are as simple, self-serving, and base as greed, hatred, and pride.
If our nation can not hold this administration to account in court for their unreasonable acts, the reasonable adults among America's voters will need to hold the Republican party to account at the ballot box.
604
Though the zeal is admirable and our goals are aligned I humbly disagree with your contention that there is a legal recourse in the courts. Check out cases like Chevron—for federal administrative agencies the deference the court gives them is typically ‘arbitrary and capricious.’ I think in some ways this may even be the case.
But here the problem is standing... ie who would be the sort of plaintiff that we could get that wouldn’t get dismissed in summary judgment. Though I have high hopes I wonder if we can get over that hurdle.
6
Agree. The Trump minions and their roll-back measures are anti-government; essentially reversing and nullifying the agreements that have been held in place for generations. We taxpayers have paid for government, for research, for information and expertise to better our lives. Why do these usurpers think they'll get away with it?
40
Let's take them to court! I could not agree with you more!!
28
This anachronistic idea suggested by Mr Pruitt goes hand in hand with the same wacky ideas North American auto producers tried years back. “ We are great why try” Consumers flocked to foreign cars, why? The Japanese, Germans and many others thought about the future, creating cars based on that belief. If the auto industry plans to be that lazy please go ahead and watch as the world goes around them again.
23
I just want to say one word to you. Just one word. Are you listening? Coal.
6
I would drive to California to buy a car that meets fuel efficiency and emission standards that help reduce carbon emissions. In fact, I would never buy a car in a state that does not have as strict standards as California. And I would welcome even stricter standards.
35
Suggestion: Buy a hybrid if you drive long distances or an electric vehicle if your trips are shorter. We have two hybrids, each putting out 50% of the emissions of a standard car. Peppier, too.
9
Well that’ll be great for the environment... lol pretty sure we’re not going to have companies that only sell to Californians or in California. You can get one back home I promise.
So the US auto manufacturers don’t want to have to meet the world wide emission standards? Good luck to them! They won’t be able to sell their vehicles in any other country in the world. As to the domestic market, millions of people like me are going to buy our vehicles from the foreign manufacturers who have met the standard and who generally build much better vehicles anyway. By, by US auto industry, I’m looking at you in my rear view mirror.
35
If you went to Germany and bought a car there that meets European standards, it would not be legal to drive in the US until you had it retrofitted to meet US standards. If you bought the US equivalent, same model, same manufacturer, built in the US or for the US market, it would be legal to drive in the US.
Except for areas in California and high population density areas in the northeast, air quality in the US is far superior to air quality in the EU.
Five of the top ten cities with unsatisfactory air quality are in California.
It is appropriate for California to have more stringent auto emission standards because they have a problem with air pollution. It does not make sense to force people living and driving in areas with clean air to pay $10,000 more for a car in order to socialize the cost in order to reduce auto costs for Californians.
What makes more sense is for people who live in areas where they have polluted air to buy tiny fuel efficient vehicles and pay the premium.
I'd be surprised, actually, if the auto manufacturers really do it at this point.
1
By 2030 and 2040 most industrialized countries will have phased out gasoline and diesel powered vehicles, and replaced them with EVs. Might be able to make artificial reefs with what's left of the U.S. Auto Industry!
2
Pruitt and Trump should be sued for putting us all at such risk and ignoring the environmental crisis we are facing. I hope more people will decide on a electric vehicle when they trade up their cars. And of course, vote like your life and your kids' lives depend upon it; because they literally do.
391
They are being sued. Trump has been sued more than 100 times since his inauguration. Aa handful of examples:
https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/politics/a9962852/lawsuits-aga...
"16 attorneys general sue Scott Pruitt for blocking implementation of EPA smog rule"
https://thinkprogress.org/attorneys-general-sue-epa-over-smog-rule-delay...
15
I just traded up for a used Nissan Leaf, and I vote.
2
To the extent that the electricity you use to power your car is produced by dirty fuel, your choice is meaningless.
1
Everyone wanted the "good ol' days." A return to 1950s America. So far we've got a Cold War, a nuclear arms race, racial tensions, and now the yellow smog that used to burn people's lungs. As my grandmama used to say, "The good ol' days weren't all that good."
645
Lets not forget rivers that caught on fire and pesticides that killed eagles. And acid rain that ate car paint and lungs. Good times, Happy days... :-(
40
Not everyone.
2
"And tomorrow ain't as bad as it seems." Thanks Billy Joel.
I can't WAIT to vote in November. I'm just going to keep sending donations to every Democrat I can who's running in a red district. These Trumpers need to be FIRED, but until then, I'll settle for an overwhelmingly Democratic Congress!
24
Me tpp!
2
Hi Carol: Thank you! I will join you in all you are doing. I just moved to a red district with my family, and we all are going to vote blue in November.
5
Just another form of smut from trump’s man Scott Pruitt this too will fail. B
7
I'd give anything to know what Trump's cut is on all these rollbacks he's putting through for our major corporations the the oil and gas and auto industries that do most of the polluting. This guy has turned the office of the presidency into one huge moneymaking machine for himself and his family.
11
Or maybe Trump and his ilk are now investing in European and Japanese car manufacturers.
Trump`s obsession with undoing everything Obama did will have disastrous consequences, especially for the deplorables who elected him.
The rest of the planet will continue to improve the efficiency of cars, simply because the market values that efficiency. American cars will degrade and be less competitive, and American workers will - deservedly - suffer.
Trump acts like the malignant narcissist he actually is, with absolutely no regard for the consequences of his actions beyond the satisfaction of his egotism.
396
Important to see who is behind the so-called Competitive Enterprise Institute supporting Scott Pruitt in his criminality. Yep, the usual suspects--the Koch brothers, Exxon, big tobacco, alcohol and even Google and Facebook, etc. etc.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2013/06/20/anatomy-of-a-w...?
17
Make America Polluted Again. Of course, Trump and his enablers will assume no responsibility for all of the externalities that this will lead to for their fellow Americans (in addition to the obvious...climate change) including cancer and respiratory problems. Smog kills...and so does Party over Country.
13
How is this progress?
5
My family has two electric cars now. We will never go back to gas.
10
You are not going to be so thrilled when you have to pay full price.
People will not save money on cars with lower miles per gallon. The cost of having to buy more gas will increase expenses.
It seems like anything Obama did, especially in the interest of improving our environment, has to be undone my Trump. Vindication seems to be the name of his game.
210
What a pathetic way to lead your life - living to take revenge on your supposed enemies. He is living his life according to the book of Roy Cohn, and his life didnt’ end well either.
7
"Vindication seems to be the name of his game." Vindictive is his style.
2
Make America Smoggy Again
6
You mean: Make America Grimy Again!
1
Should be interesting. Roll back the rules, and watch the auto industry collapse while the California regulations are litigated. CA and states following CARB rules are about a third of the domestic market. Who will buy a car that may not meet clean air standards when things shake out?
And does anyone think that Japan and Hyundai will take the short-sighted approach? Just like the 70s, this will be another big opportunity for them.
12
There are cars on the market today that get 60 MPG. Why can't people in California just buy those cars? Or EVs?
2
Because pollution problems aren't limited to California! Why can't everyone buy cars that are fuel efficient or electric so that our planet isn't endangered? This policy change will decimate the American car industry unless they actually do something amazing -- like ignore it!
2
Some greedy people, just don't learn! Ever wonder how many autos America won't sell overseas, because of air pollution? What a boost for Asian auto-makers!
Pruitt even before his appointment to his position showed his hand. Working for and receiving monies from companies and suing on their behalf. Polluting as he goes. Instead of Make America great again, the big one will be " Make America dirty, toxic, unbreathable, cancer ridden, and Undrinkable . My state has an absolute horrible situation due to coal ash ponds failing, owned by power company . Former govenor was employed by this company and instead of serving people helped power company, and yes he is a republican. Surprise ? I don't think so.
9
Trump can do whatever he likes, but if the US auto industry try and take advantage it'll be the end of them. Maybe they are stupid and short-sighted but when the world's 5th largest economy (California) says 'no', they'll fall into line. Or they'll have car lots from Norcal to San Diego full of unsold cars. Add Oregon, Washington State, north eastern seaboard etc and curtains for the old-school US auto.
5
Murder the planet, murder future generations for a fast buck today.
6
Yes! Let's roll back to pre WWII industrial standards! Actually, better yet, let's aim for Colonial times. Like all of the lonely clown's other policies, we'll abdicate our position as progressive lead on anything right down to bumbling drifter, slinking off somewhere alone. Meanwhile, in CA....
8
Trump pledged to help the little guy, so why does he keep helping corporations?
6
What moron could possibly think this is a good idea? I can’t fathom anyone being greedy to such an extreme that they’d think this is a good idea. Thank god there are kids turning 18 every day.
15
Who would have thought we would be cheering for the youngest generation to get old enough to vote! Thank goodness they are young, energetic and idealistic. We need them to help us stop the movement backwards into the past.
5
This is like some bizarre science fiction story where the dark side seeks to overpower the force. It is a nightmare. What really explains why Trump and his evil empire want to strike like this? What is to be gained? Is it simply spite? Obama hatred? The Koch Brothers maniacal obsession to rule? Have we all gone mad?
21
No they aren't mad. It is just Trump and his cronies seeking revenge for every insult they ever had to take. Trump wants to punish Obama for mocking him at the National Press Dinner a while back. And Peter Thiel wants to punish the world because he has been mistreated for being gay. These are just guys trying to make up for their hurt feelings by being as mean as humanly possible to ordinary people. But the amazing thing is that they have to breathe the same air that everyone else as to breathe.
4
A lot of big trucks here in Arizona. Gas is now 2.50+ a gallon. I hope every truck owner feels the pinch. I am not sure why in the world they still make trucks that get 15 gallons to the mile.
9
Because they can. Cannot imagine how much those truck owners spend on fuel in a year.
Did Pruitt come up with this idea when he was in Morocco touting natural gas. Pruitt who lives in a house owned by a natural gas lobbyist.
8
"But within weeks of Mr. Trump’s inauguration last year, the chief executives of the nation’s Big Three auto companies met with him in the Oval Office to say that the Obama tailpipe standard was too difficult to achieve."
Too difficult to achieve.........
We are capable--were capable fifty years ago--of sending men in a capsule out of the earth's gravitational pull, landing safely on the moon, sustaining the lives of the astronauts throughout, and
returning the capsule safely to the earth.
We are able to send telescope-equipped probes light years into space, staying in communication all the while, receiving a steady stream of images; infra red, and radio wave receivers as well as light in the visual spectrum.
We have built a neutrino detector at the South Pole consisting of strings of ultra-sensitive detectors dropped into holes bored 2 miles deep in the icecap, connected to arrays of digital recorders on the surface. The data collected is streamed to labs all over the world in real time.
All well and good, but reducing emissions? I don't know--it's just so damn hard!! Drilling miles (perfectly straight and true) into ice in 50 below weather.....c'mon--that's child's play. But reducing emissions..? It's probably beyond human capability.
19
Under Trump the EPA has turned into a lackey for industries that have no concern for what kind of world they leave to their children. The god of the Republican Party seems to be profit. Hope the courts can mitigate the abuses of this administration.
13
Just what America needs: More Dirt.
6
Love Canal 2.0 here we come! Soon we’ll all be wearing those white mask the inhabitants of Beijing wear when their city is covered with pollution.
9
This guy is hell bent on making America another smog rich country like China. Soon even China will have cleaner air than we do. Everything about him is about money for his rich friends. And the tired excuse and fairy tale that "this will make cars more affordable" is nothing but horse manure. There isn't one thing they have done that has made anything "more affordable". Watch cancer rate rise, watch asthma rates rise, all to make money off people's misery. Guy is nothing but pure evil.
13
Go ahead. Give us yet another reason to vote against you and the GPO. Sayonara Very Stable Genius.
11
Coming to you next from the Trump team: seatbelts are once again optional. #MakeAmericaStupidAgain
15
Is he going to undo all the good stuff and forward- thinking of the modern USA? Why doesn't he just ban flush toilets?
10
This is beyond stupid, it's criminal. Anything and everything to "get back" at the black guy.
Who cares who it hurts?
In the end, it will bankrupt the automobile industry in America, the very folks it is kissing-up to. It will serve them right.
19
How soon can we vote these idiots out. But yes, they can do what they like, hopefully the market will dictate better fuel economy, cleaner, safer vehicles. I for one will be paying attention to those things when I purchase again.
15
I just bought an electric in Sept - a Nissan Leaf - and I love it! My neighbor bought a Chevy Bolt last week (she has a long commute) - sweet car. Consider those!
11
The Nissan sure, but I’ll avoid the Chevy. I’m not buying an American
built car ever again. I remember
the air pollution in LA and other US cities during the 60’’s and 70’s very well. Now the US auto manufacturers and the Trump administration want to bring those days back. Asthma and other diseases were widespread and you couldn’t see two blocks away. The pictures of Beijing’s dense smog are very familiar to those of us who lived through LA’s smog era.
9
Americans, the greatest consumers in the history of earth. Let's point our finger at Trump, errr ... uhh, anything or anybody but ourselves. Pathetic.
1
This is what happens when you put people in power who are very short sighted or who are paid off by industry or who are complete idiots or who are evil.
15
...or all of the above.
3
Making American Cars the worst by far again...
What a crew!
14
"Breathe deep the gathering gloom, watch light fade from every room". Why should China get to wear all the face masks? "Stupid is as stupid does". This is very stupid - even for Trump.
8
Stupid. There is no other way to describe this nonsense. If anything good comes out of this dark episode of American history, it will be the lessons learned.
Vote in November. Our future will depend upon it.
16
Really? Didn't American car and truck manufacturers take a big hit when American (and world) customers realized that they could buy smaller, more fuel efficient cars? Haven't American car buyers come to expect that they didn't have to spend fortunes on gas for cars getting 6-9 mpg?
Are American auto manufacturers so willing to give up huge market share and whatever improved reputations they've earned within a world market for cars?
Does Trump and Pruitt really think American buyers are that stupid, that we'd want to spend thousands of dollars more over the life of our cars for more gas, and that we're eager to return to daily smog and health warnings?
I guess they just don't care when it comes to increasing profits for their corporate allies.
11
This is nothing but a short-sighted, stupid, and reprehensible idea. You've got to just sit back and marvel how these "pro-life" Republicans will do any and everything to enact pro-death policies upon the American people.
10
I really hope the madness stops soon.
8
These are men with no concern for the health of their own children and grandchildren. They are greedy, venal, little beasts.
13
Trump is a visionary. Maybe we'll even see leaded gasoline again.
6
One more proof that this wasn't about making America great again, and simply about making America's wealthiest citizens wealthier again.
What a foolish, greedy administration.
Time and again Trump shows that being weak on morality in his own personal life isn't just a character trait that can be limited to his private life, but rather constantly influences the decisions he's taking as a politician.
So sad.
14
More Americans will die of respiratory illnesses and our cars will be shunned by the world market. This is treason.
10
Hey Trump. Try what you will. One thing you will never ever be. That Obama is infinitely times better the man you are.
11
I don't hate. I hate Scott Pruitt and the damage he has wielded. This is our world, Scott, not just yours + Trump's, and you are hurting all of us in unimaginable ways. We need someone at the EPA who is intelligent, and who works for the greater good - this is not you.
11
Yeah, I can see how requiring less fuel and making the air more breatheable was a huge burden on the Big 3...
5
Too bad Obama didn’t weaken car standards right before leaving office. Then Trump would feel compelled to strengthen them. Psych!!
1
I once read a paper by Myron Ebell. He cited his own writing almost 50 times. He isn't qualified to be the judge of anything related to climate.
Trump doesn't care about the people he chooses or the damage they might do. His EPA head, Pruitt of Oklahoma, is ready to throw the global climate activists under a bus. Will it spew POM's above a safe level, Mr. Pruitt? Don't breathe too deeply.
The big 3 are very stupid. They make big cars, though! What fun to get 20 MPG on the highway. I think your future us assured, GM, Ford and Chrysler. Like those big dinosaurs of long ago, someday you'll be extinct.
6
The Big 3 almost were extinct. As I remember, President Obama stepped into save two of them in exchange for improved standards. And this is the thanks he gets - and we get? This is treason, committed by egotistical and irresponsible people (Trump and Pruitt) intent on harming all Americans because they resent the immediate past president's successes.
I grew up in Southern California. There were over 100 million cars registered then, and now there are more than twice as many.
However, the air is better now because efforts to reduce air pollution have had the intended effect. I came out of the pool in 1969 with restricted breathing due to the smog, now that doesn't happen.
We are fortunate that regulations are in place to improve the air - going back is a travesty.
9
The goal for America! Poor, filthy and in ill health.
What vision.
15
I think protecting the environment is important as does my family. We will not buy the dirty cars.
9
State's rights unless it goes against what the Republicans want.
Hypocrisy as usual.
9
This is what you get when you elect a 70 year old malignant narcissist as president.
13
Hurray! The wicked witch is dead.
Sell more oil and a higher price. Yeah!
1
This action by the Trump administration is yet another short-sighted and harmful move certain to doom current and future generations. We bought a hybrid two years ago and it runs like a dream; we'll never buy another car that runs only on gasoline. He is selling our future to the highest bidder.
4
So, making US cars ineligible for the foreign markets is somehow going to make the industry more sustainable. Just watch as the EU and others gleefully up the ante on emissions. No tariffs needed, just no steam engines allowed.
12
Stupidity. Sheer stupidity.
Even the auto makers who think they are "benefitting" (short-term, financially) by reducing emissions standards are effectively shooting themselves in the foot (and lungs, etc.). It just goes to show how utterly irrational and narrow are the minds of such "businessmen" (yes, they're mostly men).
Scott Pruitt is among the most shameless and crooked politicians ever to set foot in Washington (second only to his boss, of course). If there is any justice in the world, he should be tried for crimes against humanity!
10
I remember smog in Southern California in the 1960s that was so bad you could not make out a traffic light two blocks away. Let’s go back to that Donnie, and see how well it works. How about mandating that all cars use wood or coal fired steam engines? That should be a YUUUUGE advance, right?
Who let these idiots run the country? Oh, yeah, the well educated, forward looking people in the RED states. You know, the ones that do so well that they need tax based “income redistribution” from the RICH LIBERAL Blue states.
(R) used to stand for Republican. Now it stands for (R)idiculous, (R)eactionary and/or (R)etrograde.
14
And "reverse " - like back to 1960 !
5
Is there anything left of Obama's "legacy" to be rolled back? It is like he was never there at this point
6
It's impossible for me to imagine the degree of social irresponsibility, scientific denial / ignoance, and (almost certainly) greed that allows these people to take such actions. We The People seem unable to do anything to stop this vile cabal right now but I look forward to a day when they might be put on trial for their sickening behaviors, similar to a war crime tribunal.
9
The title of this article should be "E.P.A. Prepares to Change its Name to the Environmental Pollution Agency."
11
This is just evil and stupid and will increase our dependency on gas. Most car manufacturers have already retooled to comply with the cleaner standards. It's like we have a spiteful stupid greedy child in charge. Can some Trump supporter explain why you want to leave an even more polluted stunted future to your kids? Why did you vote to sink this country even farther behind the rest of the world? Was the Trump administration rollback on the ban of lead in ammo not killing enough American eagles for you? He's already destroying unions and labor protections must we be as polluted as China too?
13
Wonderful news, and the tree-huggers are still free to buy an electric car, or take a train or bus. We ALL share the planet, we should ALL be able to drive what we wish. The only ones that won't like this are the control freaks that like to tell everyone else what to do. Boohoo
1
We do all share the planet...and the air we and our children will breathe. We should be able to breathe...however we wish. Or at all.
10
Dave - the SECOND that you can contain the pollutants that you & your vehicle emit, I'll support you 100%. If at that point you want to drive a Boeing 747 to work, I'll back you.
The PROBLEM, is that YOU can't absorb your emissions, you expect OUR planet to do it for YOU and all available evidence PROVES that the concept is NOT sustainable.
I want MY kids to be able to breathe...
12
I like that idea. I'll drive my good ole Winnebago with a 150 gallon black water holding tank in front of your house and empty the tank right there. You won't be a "control freak" and tell me what to do, will you?
9
The auto industry in 2008: "Please save us. We'll do anything. We promise."
Auto industry in 2018: "Suckers."
9
A forgotten result of automotive gas efficiency: US energy independence. The phenomenal improvements in automotive fuel use have contributed in a major way to the reality that the US can be energy independent and not subject to the political whims of fossil fuel providers like OPEC and Russia.
Not to belittle the importance of air pollution improvement and global warming effects, but these small minded imbeciles don't have the systems comprehension to realize that their choices have impacts that go beyond automotive industry profits, beyond extremely important health concerns, beyond stupendously destructive global warming, and even to national security. But their tiny little minds can't grasp anything beyond the next political contribution.
Nauseating!
12
Granted, the mileage rules were rolled out by the Obama administration were targets to nudge the automakers to nudge them to work to improve mileage and efficiency. However, they had no input from the industry, rather they were driven by a green agenda. They were not based on science and technological feasibility. Same is true of the social cost of carbon emissions, the decision to not build the Keystone XL pipeline and the targets made for the Paris Accord. All were not based on science. Same is true of the mantra that "97% of scientists agree" that climate change comes from greenhouse gases from manmade causes - it is a show of hands from scientists with vested interests. It's past time to bring REAL science into the politics / policy making.
1
Not true. The standards were based on technological feasibility. The standards could be met using only the technology we have available today, yesterday in fact. What stands in the way of improved efficiency is what always has: weight and power. In short, American citizens. Or should we say, consumers. Not too much citizenship on display in the car lots. Faced with behaving like adults preparing responsibly for the future, or accommodating egos and creature comforts, they make the remain committed to eternal adolescence.
2
By all means, let us hurry back to 1900. Each event in blustermouth's campaign unleashes a tide of litigation and protest from Americans. His lowness cannot get enough of himself ... doing something. The repubs in the House and some in the Senate and all those who support him - you all gonna buy bottled water and breathe through a ventilator?
9
For many months I have noticed the increase of Ford Expeditions and Cadillac Escalades on the road and in parking lots. Especially when I end up parked in between them with my Prius and cannot safely back out. More reckless abandonment of any level of integrity or morality from this group of expletives. Keep it up you wonderful *March for Our Lifers.* Your message is transcending.
7
Aside from environmental concerns where do people get money for such vehicles?