News and updates from the U.S. Climate Alliance.
Tags
2018 Press Release Transportation

The U.S. Climate Alliance Joint Statement on Opposing Federal Weakening of Pollution Standards

April 2, 2018

“Today’s announcement by EPA Administrator Pruitt to weaken vehicle emissions standards is in direct conflict with the agency’s mandate to reduce air pollution.  This decision will increase air pollution and limit innovative technology advancements that bring cleaner, more efficient cars to market.

 

We support the current federal standards agreed to in 2012 by the automotive industry, the federal government, and the State of California.  These standards are helping to drive the global transition to more efficient transportation technologies. They also protect the health of our communities and reduce the pollution that is changing our climate.

 

States are incubators for innovation that strengthens and advances the American economy – by enhancing competitiveness and creating American jobs. We reject this attempt to weaken emissions standards while the rest of the world moves forward. We call on non-Alliance states, car makers, the health community, and others to work with us to uphold the economic, environmental and public health benefits of cleaner cars.”

About the Alliance

Launched on June 1, 2017 by the governors of Washington, New York, and California to help fill the void left by the previous administration’s decision to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Agreement, the Alliance has grown to include 24 governors from across the U.S. representing approximately 60% of the U.S. economy and 55% of the U.S. population. Governors in the Alliance have pledged to collectively reduce net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 26-28% by 2025, 50-52% by 2030, and 61-66% by 2035, all below 2005 levels, and collectively achieve overall net-zero greenhouse gas emissions as soon as practicable, and no later than 2050. 

 

The Alliance’s states and territories continue to demonstrate that climate action goes hand-in-hand with economic growth, job creation, and better public health. The Alliance reduced its collective net greenhouse gas emissions by 19% between 2005 and 2022, while increasing collective GDP by 30%, and is on track to meet its near-term climate goal by reducing collective GHG emissions 26% below 2005 levels by 2025. The coalition’s states and territories are employing more workers in the clean energy sector, achieving lower levels of dangerous air pollutants, and preparing more effectively for climate impacts and executing more pre-disaster planning than the rest of the country. 

 

###