EDF, Allies Ask Appeals Court to Protect Clean Car Standards

(Washington, D.C. – May 15, 2018) Environmental Defense Fund and a coalition of the nation’s leading environmental organizations representing millions of members across the nation are challenging EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s attempt to weaken the Clean Car Standards – the successful policy that reduces dangerous air pollution and saves families money on gas.

The groups filed a petition for judicial review in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit today. A coalition of 17 states and the District of Columbia have also asked the court to protect the Clean Car Standards from Pruitt’s unlawful action.

“The Clean Car Standards are one of America’s biggest environmental success stories. They’re saving Americans hard-earned money while they’re protecting us from unhealthy pollution and the dangers of climate change,” Vickie Patton, EDF General Counsel. “Scott Pruitt’s attempt to roll back the Clean Car Standards is a reckless maneuver that will result in dangerous pollution and bigger fuel costs for all Americans.”

Pruitt’s effort to roll back the clean car standards risks putting two billion tons of additional climate pollution in our air and costing American families $460 billion in savings at the gas pump, according to EDF’s analysis.

EPA, the Department of Transportation, and the California Air Resources Board conducted an exhaustive technical review of the auto industry’s ability to meet the Model Year 2022 to 2025 Clean Car Standards. They found extensive evidence that the automotive industry can meet the standards at lower costs than predicted when the standards were initially finalized in 2012.

More than two-thirds of American voters support the Clean Car Standards, according to a recent poll by the American Lung Association. Automakers like Ford and Honda have said they do not want a roll back and are committed to working with California on the state clean cars program.

Scott Pruitt, however, still released a Final Determination in April that seeks to roll back the Clean Car Standards.