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Thursday, May 28, 2020

Attorney General Frosh Files Lawsuit Challenging Trump Administration’s Rollback of National Clean Car Standards

Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh today joined a multistate coalition in filing a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s final rule rolling back the national Clean Car Standards. The previous standards required appropriate and feasible improvements in fuel economy and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from passenger cars and light trucks, saving consumers money, reducing harmful emissions, and helping protect public health since they were introduced in 2010. The Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient Vehicles (SAFE) rule stops this progress in its tracks, hurting the economy and public health.

In the lawsuit, the coalition argues that the final rule unlawfully violates the Clean Air Act, the Energy Policy and Conservation Act, and the Administrative Procedure Act.

“Rolling back the Clean Car Standards will endanger the health of countless Americans. It will pollute our air and water, accelerate climate change and be costly for consumers,” said Attorney General Frosh. “It’s heedless and illegal. It’s a gift to the fossil fuel industry at great expense to the American people.”

In 2010, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA), the California Air Resources Board, and car manufacturers established a unified national program harmonizing greenhouse gas emission standards and fuel efficiency standards. Two years later, the agencies extended the national program to model years 2017-2025 vehicles. As part of the program, California and the federal agencies agreed to undertake a midterm evaluation to determine if the greenhouse gas emission standards for model years 2022-2025 vehicles should be maintained or revised. In January 2017, the EPA completed the midterm evaluation and issued a final determination affirming that the existing standards were appropriate and would not be changed.

The following year, the Trump administration took its first step toward dismantling the national Clean Car Standards by reversing the final determination with a new mid-term evaluation that alleged the standards were no longer appropriate or feasible. The administration later made its rollback proposal official, despite the fact that the auto industry was currently on track to meet or exceed the Clean Car Standards.

On March 31, 2020, the final rule rolling back the Clean Car Standards was announced. The rule takes aim at the corporate average fuel efficiency standards, requiring automakers to make only minimal improvements to fuel economy—on the order of 1.5 percent annually instead of the previously anticipated annual increase of approximately 5 percent. The rule also guts the requirements to reduce vehicles’ greenhouse gas emissions, allowing hundreds of millions of metric tons of avoidable carbon emissions into our atmosphere over the next decade.

In the lawsuit, the coalition will argue that the rollback of the national Clean Cars Standards is unlawful because, among other things:
The EPA and NHTSA’s rollbacks violate the statutory text and congressional mandates they are bound by; and
The EPA and NHTSA improperly and unlawfully relied on an analysis riddled with errors, omissions, and unfounded assumptions in an attempt to justify their desired result.

Attorney General Frosh joins the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin. The California Air Resources Board; the Cities of Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Denver; and the Counties of San Francisco and Denver also joined the coalition in filing the lawsuit.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Does this idiot do anything to help the citizens of Maryland of just waste time/money filing lawsuits against Trump?

Anonymous said...

“Rolling back the Clean Car Standards will endanger the health of countless Americans. It will pollute our air and water, accelerate climate change and be costly for consumers,” said Attorney General Frosh. “It’s heedless and illegal. It’s a gift to the fossil fuel industry at great expense to the American people.”


Absolute lies coming from this communist prick!

Anonymous said...

The numbers don't add up, the manufacturers are voluntarily mostly in line withe the design regs and have no reason to back away, and many of the regs work against innovation instead of for it. Something with merit will be put in place to reduce the bloat.

Anonymous said...

do AG have any other jobs?

Anonymous said...

The Governor signed the spending bill that put over $900,000 into Frost
budget to forward approve him having money to sue Trump. Pretty good move by Democrats, dumb move by Republican Governor.

Anonymous said...

Nothing to worry about while you are locked away in your house

Anonymous said...

Adolph Hogan will do anything to go against Trump. Hogan, aka Hitler, is a communist. Just look at his actions. They are not pro democracy.

Anonymous said...

We've all been collecting carbon credits for months.

Anonymous said...

5:03

Yes and I can't wait to go use my carbon credit card at the store.

Anonymous said...

Once again, the dumbocrat assholes want to decide for you what kind of car you can have.


Hey leftie morons, LET THE PEOPLE DECIDE through the market!!!

Anonymous said...

Dude needs a hiatus; like to Siberia.

anonymous said...

Meanwhile, he could focus on the problem of the Susquehanna River Dam, which has been poisoning the bay for decades. It doesn't suit his agenda of taking down Trump for political gain. What a pencil neck pip squeak. He ain't got any balls.

Anonymous said...

Funny: on one hand Trumpnclaims to have the greatest economy ever. Clearly that economy got there with the regulations in place. So what exactly is the purpose?

Anonymous said...

Frosh would sue Trump for using the wrong lip balm. Idiot looking for relevance.

Anonymous said...

Frosh has a liberal agenda to tax and spend Maryland into bankruptcy.

Anonymous said...

I do not want to return to the environment of the 60's ,..can you say that you do ?