It’s Wednesday, July 10, and a team of unlikely allies is standing against Trump’s clean car rollbacks.
Twenty-four governors are urging the president not to roll back vehicle emissions rules put in place by President Obama. They include three Republicans (in Vermont, Massachusetts, and Maryland) and four leaders from states that voted for Trump in 2016 (Montana, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin). Joining the elected officials are some of the biggest car companies in the world, as well as some in the chemical industry and power sector, the New York Times reports.
President Trump’s proposal to weaken fuel-efficiency standards, if put in place, could lead to an extra 320 million to 931 million metric tons of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by 2035. Those emissions affect the local air, too — the coalition of governors opposes the increased pollution in their communities. But that’s not the only reason a growing number of officials and industries are against the changes.
Labor groups, for instance, say that the Obama-era emissions standards support 300,000 new jobs in developing fuel-efficient vehicles. And 17 automakers, including Ford and General Motors, say the rollbacks would hurt their profits and create an unstable market, as California and Canada plan to stick to the stricter standards. Energy utilities have already started investing in electric car–charging infrastructure, and chemical companies have been working on compounds to lighten the weight of car parts to aid in reducing emissions — both creating manufacturing jobs. One chemical company told the Times the rollbacks would “reverse nearly a decade of progress.”
The growing opposition to Trump’s plan puts him in an awkward position, potentially having to defy the wishes of the manufacturing industries he has vowed to revive. It also shows that the market can favor climate-friendly regulations, at least once policies are in place.
The Smog
Need-to-know basis
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