Last month, while millions of young people across the globe marched in the Global Climate Strike to demand action on climate change, the federal government launched yet another attack on our environment by rolling back the Clean Car Standards. This action brazenly undermines states’ rights to protect their own environment and citizens.
As Pennsylvania Attorney General, I have the responsibility to act as a check on the federal government when it infringes upon our sovereignty, including on Pennsylvanians’ constitutional rights to clean air and pure water. The federal rollback of the Clean Car Standards threatens those rights, and so — inspired by those who made their voices heard during the Climate Strike — I’m fighting back.
The Clean Air Act gives states the right to impose limits on automobile emissions if the federal government isn’t doing its job and protecting residents from pollution. In 1998, under Republican Gov. Tom Ridge, Pennsylvania adopted the Clean Vehicle Program, which committed our state to tougher emissions standards already in effect in California and many other states.
As a result, Pennsylvania has been at the forefront of efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and smog-causing pollutants. It was partly because of the efforts of Pennsylvania and other states that the federal government enacted the landmark Clean Car Standards in 2010, which set our nation on a path toward meaningful reductions in greenhouse gases emitted by cars and trucks.
The Trump Administration wants to unilaterally do away with the states’ rights protections in the Clean Air Act. But the authority given to Pennsylvania and other states to adopt tougher emissions standards was passed overwhelmingly on a bipartisan basis. A president can’t simply do away with it by issuing a regulation.
The standards help protect all of us, particularly our most vulnerable citizens — seniors, children and individuals with health issues. They seek to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 4.4 percent each year for 2022 to 2025. The standards are expected to prevent up to 2,000 premature deaths, 50,000 cases of respiratory ailments, and reduce asthma symptoms for 24 million Americans, including 6.3 million children. These are tangible health benefits that Pennsylvania badly needs.
The standards also protect family budgets from dramatic price increases at the gas pump. Drivers have saved more than $50 billion at the pump since they were adopted and Pennsylvanians alone have saved $1.2 billion. If they remain in place, every Pennsylvania driver can expect to save $1,650 at the pump by 2030.
The benefits of these standards go beyond our wallets — they benefit our economy as a whole. The Clean Car Standards are spurring job growth in the auto industry. Nationwide, there are 288,000 jobs associated with clean vehicle technologies. If these standards remain in place, Pennsylvania can expect 26,400 new, family-sustaining jobs by 2030.
Despite the proven health, financial, and economic benefits of the existing Clean Car Standards, the Trump Administration is attempting to reverse this progress. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recently issued a regulation designed to preempt other states’ Clean Car Standards. NHSTA is overstepping its authority and encroaching on the rights of states to protect their own citizens and environment. This regulation would effectively revoke the rights of Pennsylvania to control vehicle pollution within our own borders, both now and in the future.
The Preemption Rule violates the Clean Air Act and conflicts with two federal court decisions. It ignores 50 years of history, during which both Republican and Democratic administrations have respected the rights of states to implement tougher emissions standards. The administration’s proposal is so extreme that even car manufacturers don’t support it. Ford, Honda, Volkswagen and BMW recently entered into a landmark agreement with California to comply with higher standards than those proposed by the Trump Administration.
The Clean Car Standards are common sense: They save consumers money, they reduce pollution and they create new jobs.
Under our state Constitution, Pennsylvanians have a right to clean air and pure water. I’ll do everything in my power as Attorney General to defend those rights and protect Pennsylvania’s environment.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro has joined a coalition of 22 states and the District of Columbia who have sued to block the federal roll back of the Clean Car Standards.
