Attorney General Frosh Joins Coalition to Demand Withdrawal of Proposal to Roll Back the Nation’s Clean Car Standards

Current Achievable Clean Car Standards Save Consumers Money, Reduce Emissions, and Prevent the Effects of Climate Change

BALTIMORE, MD – Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh today joined a coalition of 21 attorneys general and four major cities, in filing written comments demanding the Trump administration’s U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) withdraw their proposal to eliminate the national Clean Car Standards. The current Clean Car Standards require significant and feasible reductions in fuel economy and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from passenger cars and light trucks. The current rule is expected to prevent up to 2,000 premature deaths, 50,000 cases of respiratory ailments, and reduce asthma symptoms for the 24 million Americans, including 6.3 million children. The rule would save the average consumer $1,620 over the lifetime of a personal vehicle.

The Trump administration’s proposal would throw out these standards, which are supported by scientific research and have been repeatedly proven achievable, in favor of a plan that requires no improvements in vehicle fuel economy or GHG emissions for a period of at least six years. In addition, the proposal would unlawfully revoke Maryland’s long-standing authority to manage its own more stringent GHG standards per the State’s Clean Cars Act. This law allows Maryland to regulate GHG from passenger vehicles, and includes a Zero Emissions Vehicle (ZEV) mandate that car manufacturers must meet. As a result of the Clean Cars Program, Maryland has seen a substantial reduction in nitrogen oxide (NOx) from highway vehicles as well as GHG emissions.

“The EPA and NHSTA have a responsibility to uphold standards that have, time and time again, been shown to be attainable and critical to reducing the pollutants that harm public health and the environment,” said Attorney General Frosh. “We will continue to oppose this administration’s efforts to chip away at protections that combat rapidly accelerating climate change and its dangerous consequences. The right of individual states to adopt pollution standards stricter than federal standards is critical to protecting public health and our unique environmental resources.”

Read more in the full press release:http://www.marylandattorneygeneral.gov/press/2018/102618a.pdf