Win For Clean Air- Courts Rule Against Trump’s CAFE Delay

The United States Court for the Second Circuit ruled in favor of the Sierra Club and other environmental groups that Trump’s indefinite delay of important fuel efficiency standards under the corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) program is unlawful. The opinion confirmed that NHTSA lacks statutory authority to indefinitely delay the effective date of the increased penalty and that the agency failed to provide notice and comment, as required under the Administrative Procedure Act.

“In a victory for clean air, the court ruled in favor of the Sierra Club that Trump’s delay on fuel efficiency standards is unlawful. Trump tried to rollback CAFE standards in the best interest of corporate polluters and lost. This is a huge win for our lungs and our environment,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “This is a win. It shows that it is important more than ever to stand up to Trump’s rollbacks on our clean air. Trump’s delay on the CAFE standards was an attack on our lungs and our wallets. Trucks and cars are the biggest sources of pollution and it is critical that automakers comply with these fuel efficiency standards.”

The Obama administration’s NHTSA increased CAFE civil penalties from $5.50 to $14 per tenth of a mile per gallon after Congress ordered all federal agencies to update their penalties for inflation. Last year, the Trump administration’s NHTSA issued an indefinite delay of this increased penalty, handing a gift to automakers and weakening the penalties’ deterrent effect, effectively allowing them to continue making dirtier vehicles that fail to comply with fuel efficiency standards.

“Trump attacked our lungs and wasted gasoline by delaying these CAFÉ rules. By requiring us to buy more fuel, it will raise the price, which will be a double whammy on our wallets. It will cost the average driver $3,000 and the average light truck $4,000 for fuel. Instead of driving our economy forward with cleaner vehicles, Trump is working to increase greenhouse gas emissions, which cost us more money and exacerbate climate impacts,” said Tittel. “That is why we must keep fighting Trump in court to protect our clean air.”

An new report on the health impacts of air pollution and toxic chemical was recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Some of the projected effects of EPA’s rollbacks to the CAFE standards for automobiles and Clean Power Plan are 41,500 deaths over a decade, 41,000 premature deaths over a decade, and 1.67 million cases of respiratory ailments over a decade, where over 50 percent of those cases are related to children respiratory ailments over a decade.

“The one area where the Trump Administration is succeeding is hurting the people of the United State and making us more vulnerable to climate impacts. We must protect our health but more importantly, our children’s health from Trump’s attempt to rollback important air quality protections. This is a crucial victory that will help protect our lungs and environment from harmful air pollution.  But New Jersey needs to do more,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “New Jersey’s air pollution levels are dangerous for smog and ozone and we must reduce as much pollution as we can from cars and trucks in the entire region. Governor Murphy needs to jumpstart work on EVs if we want to reach New Jersey’s goal of 330,000 EVs on the road by 2025. Murphy also needs to dedicate VW settlement funds to build our EV infrastructure so that New Jersey can create a network of charging stations and guarantee the right-to charge.”