DragonI

G.M. Drops Its Support for Trump Climate Rollbacks and Aligns With Biden

General Motors said it would no longer back President Trump’s effort to strip California of the power to set fuel economy standards.

www.nytimes.com

The decision by Mary Barra, the General Motors chief executive, to withdraw her company’s support for Trump administration efforts to strip California of its ability to set its own fuel efficiency standards was a striking reversal.

For nearly four years, General Motors has pushed Mr. Trump to loosen Obama-era standards on fuel economy and climate-warming emissions. 

Ms. Barra met with Mr. Trump in his first weeks in office and urged him to weaken the stringent tailpipe pollution standards that would have been the United States’ most significant domestic policy to curb global warming.

Last year, the administration went even further, revoking the legal authority of California and other states to set tighter state restrictions. When the states sued, G.M., Toyota and Fiat Chrysler intervened on the side of the administration.

Mr. Obama had seen the fuel economy rule as the centerpiece of his environmental legacy. 

Modeled after California’s state-level standard, it required automakers to build vehicles that achieve an average fuel economy of 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025, which would have eliminated about six billion tons of planet-warming carbon dioxide pollution over the lifetime of the vehicles. 

Automakers at the time had complained about the stringency of the standard, but they had little choice but to comply after the government bailout of their industry following of the 2008 financial crisis.

States Representing 44% of U.S. Population Sue EPA for Blocking Auto Emissions Standards

A coalition of 17 states and the District of Columbia is suing the Trump administration for blocking greenhouse gas emissions standards

www.ecowatch.com

A coalition of 17 states and the District of Columbia is suing the Trump administration for blocking greenhouse gas emissions standards for vehicles that aimed to reduce air pollution and curb U.S. drivers' contributions to the global climate crisis.

In what critics called an "indefensible and frankly embarrassing decision," last month U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt caved to automobile industry lobbyists' demands and announced that his agency is drafting relaxed manufacturing rules for vehicles made between 2022 and 2025.

"Enough is enough," California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said Tuesday. "The evidence is irrefutable: today's clean car standards are achievable, science-based, and a boon for hardworking American families. But the EPA and Administrator Scott Pruitt refuse to do their job and enforce these standards."

"This coalition represents approximately 43 percent of the new car sales market nationally and 44 percent of the U.S. population," the statement noted. States attorneys general or agencies from Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and the District of Columbia have signed on to the lawsuit (pdf).

The next front in the net neutrality war: Feds versus the states

States like Washington and New York are gearing up to fight the FCC’s recent repeal.

www.recode.net|Tony Romm

The order adopted by the FCC on Thursday doesn’t just kill the existing net neutrality rules — it explicitly seeks to override local policymakers from pursuing their own laws. And the FCC’s Republicans on Thursday signaled that they’d vigorously pursue any states that tried that anyway.

“I hope that most states and localities will not waste time and resources attempting to push the boundaries, but I realize that some will do so regardless,”

“I expect the agency to be vigilant in identifying and pursuing these cases. I also commit to work closely with [agency leadership] to help quash any conflicts that arise.”

Michael O’Rielly, FCC commissioner  #Plutocracy