EPA has reportedly sent rollback to White House for review

Washington (March 30, 2018) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee and Chair of the Senate Climate Task Force, released the following statement after reports that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has sent a draft of a so-called final determination that would relax standards requiring automakers to reduce emissions for model year 2022-2025 cars and light trucks to the White House. The EPA is required to complete a new final determination by April 1 after reopening the process. The Obama administration’s historic 54.5 mpg standard was partially enabled by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, which included fuel economy standards co-authored by Senator Markey when he was in the House of Representatives.

“The historic fuel economy emissions standards on the books save consumers money at the pump and protect our national security by reducing our reliance on foreign oil. These standards are also the most important action the United States has taken to fight climate change,” said Senator Markey. “Rolling back these standards would be a declaration of war on American consumers and the planet. The Trump administration should immediately abandon its efforts to make a U-turn on these critical standards that benefit consumers, our country and our planet. ”

In December 2017, Senator Markey, Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), and Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) led a group of 24 Senators in calling on the EPA to not weaken light-duty vehicle emissions standards for model 2022-2025 and strenuously objecting to revisiting emissions standards for model year 2021, which were never supposed to be part of the EPA’s midterm evaluation.

These standards are projected to save nearly 2.5 million barrels of oil a day by 2030 – nearly as much oil as we currently import from OPEC, save consumers over $1 trillion and reduce global warming pollution by 6 billion metric tons. Since reaching an historic agreement with the Obama administration and state leaders, the auto industry has gone from the brink of economic disaster to record auto sales in 2015 and 2016, including adding 700,000 U.S. jobs. 

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