“The definition of the previous administration was wrong,” said Pruitt in a statement. “EPA … Obama made assumptions about the standards that are untrue and to set the standards too high.”
EPA also plans to revise the waiver, which allows California to set more stringent standards than those in accordance with the decision of the Federal government. Unlike other States, in California are legally allowed to seek an exception to Federal standards in favor of their own. Other States are not allowed to apply for their own failure, but are allowed to adopt California that a dozen States.
“Cooperative federalism does not mean that one state can dictate standards for the rest of the country,” said Pruitt. “It is in the best interests of America is the national standard, and we look forward to cooperation with all States, including California, as we work to finalize this standard.”
Now the attorney General of the state of California, Xavier Becerra, has threatened to sue.
“Storming the trump administration standards car clean risks our ability to protect the health of our children, the fight against climate change, and save hard working Americans money,” said Becerra. “We are ready to file a lawsuit if necessary to protect these important standards and to fight the Administration on our environment. California became the sixth largest economy in the world in the observation.”
New York, which adopted the standard in California more than a decade ago, may also consider a lawsuit.
New York attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman slammed the decision of the EPA as “illegal kickback” that will promote “increased costs of fuel and more dangerous air pollution”.
A patchwork of different environmental standards may become a headache for the automotive industry, potentially causing the need to develop multiple versions of each vehicle.
“Maintaining a single national programme is critical,” the auto Alliance, an interest group, which represents more than a dozen manufacturers, the report said.
The industry, the group argues, seeks to improve fuel economy, but insists that in order to do this, “the wisest course of action to save the new cars are available” so that consumers can replace older, less efficient vehicles with newer models that pollute less.
Sourse: abcnews.go.com
