FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Thursday, August 2, 2018
Contacts: Sandy Bahr, sandy.bahr@sierraclub.org, (602) 253-8633
Public Health and Consumer Groups Condemn Trump Administration Roll Back of Clean Car Standards
Action is a Stealth Tax on Arizonan’s Health and Consumers
PHOENIX -- Today, Arizona public health and consumer organizations, released the following statements in response to the Trump administration’s decision to roll back America’s money-saving clean car standards:
“The Trump administration is rolling back yet another standard that helps to protect the health of all Arizonans, especially those of us in the Phoenix area who have been hit with day after day of high pollution advisories this summer,” said Sandy Bahr, Sierra Club – Grand Canyon (Arizona) chapter director. “This irresponsible action will make our air more polluted and will force drivers into dirtier, less-efficient vehicles that are more expensive to drive. This catering to the auto industry executives by the new acting Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator, Andrew Wheeler, and Heidi King, the acting administrator for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), reverses important progress by weakening these successful and achievable climate change and air pollution protections. We strongly oppose Trump’s toxic agenda and will fight this reckless rollback at every turn in order to protect our health, our families, and the future of our state.”
“This pending action by the administration is essentially a stealth tax on American consumers, forcing them to pay more at the pump,” said Matt Frommer, senior transportation associate at the Southwest Energy Efficiency Project (SWEEP). ”The average household in the Southwest will be paying $46-$78 a month more for gasoline by 2030 because of what is in effect a ‘Trump Tax’. And this new ‘tax’ is regressive, hitting low-income and middle class families just as hard as higher income families.
Dr. Barbara Warren, Director of Physicians for Social Responsibility, Arizona stated, "Physicians for Social Responsibility states that reducing the exposure to auto emissions prevents hospital admissions and deaths due to lung and heart diseases and can save millions of dollars in preventable health care costs."
“The Clean Cars Standard should be retained,” said Cynthia Zwick, executive director for the Arizona Community Action Association. “Individuals and families who can’t afford to purchase and maintain a car benefit from cleaner air and better health thanks to this program. Those who own cars will be challenged to be able to afford gas to get to work.”
“Arizonans know poor air quality - Maricopa County is home to some of the worst pollution in the nation," stated Laura Dent, Executive Director of Chispa Arizona. “The repeal of these Clean Car Standards will undermine our community’s health and once again show that the current Administration prioritizes profits over people.”
“The federal fuel efficiency standard has proven beneficial to consumer pocketbooks, the economy, air quality, and public health,” stated Diane E. Brown, Executive Director of the Arizona PIRG Education Fund. “The federal fuel efficiency standard should continue down the road of increased savings at the gas pump not be halted and thrown into reverse.”
“This latest move by the Trump administration means that our cars will continue to pump billions of metric tons of carbon pollution into the atmosphere, further increasing the severe impacts of global warming,” said Bret Fanshaw with Environment Arizona. “From transportation to solar energy, states and local governments are embracing a cleaner energy future. The federal government should follow suit.”
The standards, established in 2012, have already saved Arizona more than $680 million and reduced carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to “twice those from providing electricity to Tucson” according the Union of Concerned Scientists.
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