{"id":125921,"date":"2018-05-07T16:38:06","date_gmt":"2018-05-07T20:38:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thedetroitbureau.com\/?p=125921"},"modified":"2018-05-07T16:38:47","modified_gmt":"2018-05-07T20:38:47","slug":"epa-automakers-face-mounting-legal-and-public-pressure-to-leave-mileage-standards-in-place","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/2018\/05\/epa-automakers-face-mounting-legal-and-public-pressure-to-leave-mileage-standards-in-place\/","title":{"rendered":"EPA, Automakers Face Mounting Legal and Public Pressure to Leave Mileage Standards in Place"},"content":{"rendered":"
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EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt's plans to rollback CAFE has triggered a major backlash.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A coalition of consumer and environmental groups plans to drive from Washington, D.C. to Detroit this week to deliver over 250,000 signatures demanding that the auto industry\u00a0 — Ford in particular — back off on its call to roll back the Corporate Average Fuel Economy, or CAFE, standards.<\/p>\n

If that doesn\u2019t work, a separate coalition, this one comprising 17 states and the District of Columbia, has filed suit against the Environmental Protection Agency to prevent Administrator Scott Pruitt from going ahead with plans to rollback mileage rules established under the Obama Administration. While the EPA hasn\u2019t announced a final plan, a draft resolution indicated it would target something just under 42 miles per gallon, down from the original 2025 target of 54.5 mpg.<\/p>\n

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Breaking News!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThis is about health, it\u2019s about life and death,\u201d California Governor Jerry Brown said last week during a news conference announcing the lawsuit. \u201cThis phalanx of states will defend the nation\u2019s clean car standards to boost gas mileage and curb toxic air pollution,\u201d Brown said while referring to the controversial EPA chief as \u201cOutlaw Pruitt.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the largest new vehicle market in the country, California has taken a lead on the legal front, though other states suing the EPA include Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Ford CEO Jim Hackett and Chairman Bill Ford have reversed the automaker's stand on a CAFE rollback.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

(Rising demand, shrinking supply causing surge in fuel prices. <\/em>Click Here<\/span><\/a> for more.)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/strong>California has a double reason for trying to block the plan put together by Pruitt and the EPA. The Trump Administration is not only attempting to freeze the phase-in of tougher mileage standards at the target set for 2021, but also to eliminate the special waiver the Golden State has allowing it to set even tougher emissions standards than the rest of the country, part of the original Clean Air Act of 1970. Under that exception, other states can either adopt the federal mandate or opt for California\u2019s target.<\/p>\n

A dozen states now have signed onto the tougher mandate. And with them representing almost a third of overall U.S. new vehicle purchases, it\u2019s widely accepted in the industry that manufacturers wouldn\u2019t be able to roll back their mileage goals unless the California waiver is eliminated.<\/p>\n

Privately, sources say there has been teeth gnashing among industry leaders who were surprised by how sharply Pruitt\u2019s EPA was ready to roll back the CAFE target. Most had been hoping to see a number in the mid- to high-40 mpg range.<\/p>\n

The timing of the EPA move also could prove to be a problem as fuel prices haven\u2019t been this high in several years, and with while the national average is now approaching $3.00 a gallon for regular unleaded, according to tracking service GasBuddy.com, supply shortages have some wondering if the figure could soon approach the $4 range not seen since early in the Obama Administration.<\/p>\n

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With fuel prices nudging back towards prior records, public support for CAFE has been growing.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The surge in fuel prices may work to the advantage, in fact, of consumer and environmental groups taking their fight not only to the courts but to the public. Public Citizen, Sierra Club, Greenpeace USA, CREDO and Care2 all plan to arrive in downtown Detroit in time for a 10 AM news conference at the site where Ford Motor Co. was originally incorporated more than 100 years ago. Later in the day, driving a \u201cDirty Ford,\u201d a 2006 Focus sedan \u201cthat has been redesigned to feature a black cloud of pollution suspended on the car\u2019s roof, a tailpipe fog machine and money spewing from the gas tank,\u201d the group plans to deliver 250,000 signatures to Ford World Headquarters in the suburb of Dearborn.<\/p>\n

(Are gas station credit cards a smart choice? <\/em>Click Here<\/a> to find out.)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The choice of Ford, among Detroit\u2019s Big Three reflects the fact that the automaker has been one of the most vocal in calling for a CAFE rollback, former CEO Mark Fields last year telling then-new President Donald Trump the mileage rules could cost more than 1 million American jobs. More recently, Ford has announced plans to phase out almost its entire passenger car line-up in favor of less energy-efficient SUVs, CUVs and other light trucks.<\/p>\n

Despite Fields\u2019 public comments last year, Ford officials have already tried to reposition the company\u2019s stance on CAFE, executive chairman, Bill Ford, and president and chief executive\u00a0Jim Hackett last week issuing a statement declaring, \u201cWe support increasing clean car standards through 2025 and are not asking for a rollback.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite that apparent reversal and comments by several other manufacturers, including Honda and Nissan, that they will continue to aim for the original 54.5 mpg target, the EPA does not appear to be backing off on the CAFE revisions Pruitt has called for.<\/p>\n

(Motorists want calmer more comfortable commutes, finds new study. <\/em>Click Here<\/span><\/a> for more.)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A coalition of consumer groups is heading to Detroit with petitions demanding Ford stop calling for a rollback in mileage standards. Meanwhile, 17 states + DC are suing the EPA to prevent a rollback called for by embattled Admin. Scott Pruitt. The latest from TheDetroitBureau.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":112042,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,8,5,10,12],"tags":[],"make":[56,63,90],"post-state":[],"category_old":[150,151,123,142,248,152,238,132,189,291,288],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125921"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125921"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125921\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/112042"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125921"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125921"},{"taxonomy":"make","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/make?post=125921"},{"taxonomy":"post-state","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post-state?post=125921"},{"taxonomy":"category_old","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/category_old?post=125921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}