Trump to Undo Vehicle Rules That Curb Global Warming (March 3, 2017)
By CORAL DAVENPORT – MARCH 3, 2017 – New York TimesWASHINGTON — The Trump administration is expected to begin rolling back stringent federal regulations on vehicle pollution that contributes to global warming, according to people familiar with the matter, essentially marking a U-turn to efforts to force the American auto industry to produce more electric cars.
The announcement — which is expected as soon as Tuesday and will be made jointly by the Environmental Protection Agency administrator, Scott Pruitt, and the transportation secretary, Elaine L. Chao — will immediately start to undo one of former President Barack Obama’s most significant environmental legacies.
During the same week, and possibly on the same day, Mr. Trump is expected to direct Mr. Pruitt to begin the more lengthy and legally complex process of dismantling the Clean Power Plan, Mr. Obama’s rules to cut planet-warming pollution from coal-fired power plants.
The regulatory rollback on vehicle pollution will relax restrictions on tailpipe emissions of carbon dioxide and will not require action by Congress. It will also have a major effect on the United States auto industry.
Under the Obama administration’s vehicle fuel economy standards, American automakers were locked into nearly a decade of trying to design and build ever more sophisticated fuel-efficient vehicles, including electric and hybrid models. The nation’s largest auto companies told Mr. Trump last month that they found those technical requirements too burdensome.
The E.P.A. will also begin legal proceedings to revoke a waiver for California that was allowing the state to enforce the tougher tailpipe standards for its drivers.
E.P.A. officials did not respond to emails requesting comment on the move.
read more…
- A song and posters for a time of pandemic
- “I Can’t Breathe!”
-
Continuing Radical Innovation in Wind, Solar and Tidal
Electric Power Generation (2020) - Geothermal energy is poised for a big breakout
- Nebraska retiree uses Earths’ heat to grow oranges in snow
-
Could we ever pull enough carbon out of the atmosphere
to stop climate change? -
2020 Overview of Geothermal Energy
One promising element in a strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions -
David Hartsough interview on TheWorldIsMyCountry.com
September 2020 - 2004: Michael McDonald sings a comforting hymn to a troubled world
- The audacious effort to reforest the planet
-
There MUST be a Better Way
Thoughts as the USA Stumbles Blindly Toward War with Iran -
David Attenborough, Greta Thunberg and Jane Goodall
want to talk to you about climate change -
Greta Thunberg and George Monbiot on the Climate Crisis
September 2019 -
Team Human: The role of community connectedness
in responding to climate chaos -
Message from the indigenous Brazilian Kayapó people
as fires rage across the Amazon in 2019