Don’t slam the brakes on cleaner cars

Media Contacts
Aminah Zaghab

Environment America

Today, Environment America protested proposed rollbacks to federal clean vehicle standards. In a letter submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency, Environment America urged the EPA not to roll back the standards, which have already achieved significant progress in cleaning up pollution from cars.  

“The year 2016 was the hottest on record, following only the year before that. Transportation is now the largest source of dangerous carbon pollution in the country, making clean vehicle standards more important than ever,” said Aminah Zaghab, Global Warming Solutions advocate with Environment America.  “The science is clear; we can and must have cleaner cars and trucks, not roll back our most successful programs.”

The letter submitted today by Environment America amplifies diverse voices in support of the clean vehicle standards and opposes the administration’s attempts to roll back public health and environmental safeguards under the Clean Air Act.

During the rulemaking processes for the clean vehicle standards, Environment America submitted more than 40,000 grassroots comments in support of strong vehicle standards. Hundreds of mayors, city councilors, and fleet managers from across the country joined a letter in support of the heavy-duty vehicle standards. And more than 1,000 healthcare professionals across the country also highlighted support for strengthening the standards in a letter to then President-Elect Trump in December.  

The clean car standards alone will eliminate six billion metric tons of global warming pollution. By 2030, these clean cars standards will reduce projected oil consumption by 2.4 million barrels of oil per day— more than the United States imports from the Middle East and Venezuela combined, while saving consumers $1.7 trillion at the pump. The EPA and the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration’s joint report in July showed that auto companies have the technology to clean up our cars, with multiple vehicles already exceeding the standards.

“It’s clear that we can and must do more to clean up our cars and trucks, for our health and the environment,” said Zaghab. “EPA should strengthen these highly effective protections, not roll them back.”