Governors from more than 20 US states - including some won by Donald Trump in the 2016 election - have joined the California state authorities in urging the Trump administration to implement consistent anti-emissions rules in California. nationally and requiring greater fuel economy from year to year.
Request for a sensible approach
In a joint statement Tuesday, 23 governors, including California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, called for a "sensible approach" to national requirements that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and fuel consumption of light-duty vehicles. They want to try to put an end to the regulatory uncertainty created by the legal battle over the Trump administration's 2018 proposal, which aims to ease the rules.
Sign of the times ...: The governors of Wisconsin, North Carolina and Pennsylvania, who helped bring Trump to the Presidency in 2016, are among the signatory leaders of the pact.
"These are not states that have been aggressive regulators of air pollution or advocates of regulation," said Mary Nichols, president of the California Air Resources Board, the regulator of quality. of the California state air.
The Trump Administration for a limitation .... requirements
The standards for the period 2022-2025 had been set by the administration of Barack Obama before the election of Donald Trump. Called "CAFE" (Corporate Average Fuel Economy), they provided for gradual increases in vehicle range to reach the target of 54.5 miles per gallon of gasoline (4.32 liters per hundred kilometers) in 2025. Compulsory thus the manufacturers to restrict the consumption of their vehicles, and thus their pollutant emissions.
But in August 2018, the Trump administration proposed to limit mileage requirements to a fleet average of 37 miles / gallon (or 6.36 liters per 100 km) after 2020, instead of requiring a drop in fuel consumption year after year.
She also proposed to remove California's power to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from motor vehicles, which the state has been doing for several years, in coordination with the federal regulators.
The builders themselves are calling for a compromise
The governors echoed the concerns of a group of 17 major car manufacturers that last June urged Donald Trump to resume talks with the California authorities in search of a compromise. An appeal that had been rejected by the White House.
Motorists fear that without an agreement between Washington and Sacramento (the capital of the US state of California), the easing of federal standards will lead to a complicated legal battle, a mosaic of standards aimed at improving energy efficiency, even to both ...
California, a unifying state on the subject
California's rules are followed by a dozen other states on the Pacific coast and the northeastern United States, which together account for over one-third of US auto sales.
EPA and NHTSA joint work
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) are working to finalize a regulation that could be sent to the White House for review in the United States. next weeks.
We notice
Builders and states increasingly fear the consequences of the regulatory uncertainty created by the legal battle. While the introduction of new standards will in one way or another result for major automobile groups with significant financial impacts - given the massive investments that the new requirements should involve - they want to at least know on what foot to dance ... and plan their investment plans. The same goes for the durability of employment in the various states ...