Physicians for Social Responsibility Arizona • Arizona Public Health Association • Wildfire • Sierra Club – Grand Canyon Chapter • Environment Arizona • Arizona PIRG Education Fund • Southwest Energy Efficiency Project (SWEEP) • Chispa Arizona • Defend Our Future
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Friday, October 26, 2018
Contacts:
Sandy Bahr, sandy.bahr@sierraclub.org, (602) 253-8633
Will Humble, willhumble@azpha.org, (602) 538-9692
Nick Petrusek, nick@defendourfuture.org, (619) 994-4377
Arizonans Call on Trump Administration to Halt Roll Back of Clean Car Standards, Protect Public Health, Climate, and Consumers
PHOENIX – Today is the deadline for Americans to comment on the proposal by Acting Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler and Deputy National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Administrator Heidi King to roll back clean car standards and infringe on the longstanding authority of states to protect their citizens from air pollution when federal standards aren’t protective enough.
Despite the overwhelming support for these achievable, successful, and commonsense standards, the Trump administration is moving forward with allowing automakers to manufacture dirtier cars that pollute the air and harm public health, defying the requests of 17 governors, 20 state attorneys general, and more than 150 members of Congress, plus ignoring the more than 26 million Americans, including the more than 600,000 Arizonans, who suffer from asthma. Rolling back safeguards that better protect them is irresponsible and reckless.
“The federal clean car standards help to reduce pollutants that affect our health directly and indirectly here in Arizona, where the state has not enacted stronger more protective standards,” said Sandy Bahr, Sierra Club – Grand Canyon (Arizona) chapter director. “Clean car standards not only help to make our air cleaner, they also reduce emissions that contribute to climate change, a huge public health issue for those of us living in the Southwest. Rolling back these standards makes no sense at all – it will harm our health and our wallets, forcing drivers into dirtier, less-efficient vehicles.”
“This 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 pay $46-$78 a month more for gasoline by 2030 if this rollback moves forward, enacting what is essentially a ‘Trump Tax.’”
Dr. Barbara Warren, director of Physicians for Social Responsibility, Arizona stated, "Physicians for Social Responsibility wants to protect the health of all Americans. We can better do that by reducing their exposure to pollution from automobiles, preventing more hospital admissions and deaths due to lung and heart diseases and saving millions of dollars in preventable health care costs."
"The current federal emission standards are working, and are a critical part of our efforts to improve air quality in Arizona,” said Will Humble, executive director for the Arizona Public Health Association. “I've always believed that when you have a public policy that works, you stick with it. Sadly, it looks like that attitude isn't shared by today's EPA."
“The Clean Cars Standard should be retained,” said Cynthia Zwick, executive director for Wildfire. “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.”
Diane E. Brown, executive director of the Arizona PIRG Education Fund, stated, “Due to the federal fuel efficiency standards, Americans are enjoying the cleanest, safest and most fuel-efficient cars, trucks and SUVs in history. Keeping the fuel efficiency standards intact will continue to benefit air quality and public health, spur innovation, and save consumers money at the pump.”
“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.”
Nick Petrusek, Arizona State Director of climate advocacy group Defend Our Future, added, "Steps backwards regarding the reduction of greenhouse gases pose enormous dangers, but these rollbacks in particular are unfathomable, particularly in light of the UN's recent report giving us a mere 12 years to make drastic changes to avoid a hellish fate. Americans must make their voices heard on this issue and vote this November to protect our health, our safety, and our future."
These greenhouse gas reduction and fuel efficiency standards for new cars and passenger vehicles in model years 2017-2025 were finalized in 2012 and adopted with broad support from automobile manufacturers, labor organizations, and consumer groups, among others.
The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that consumers across the country will save about $500 million over the next three decades if the fuel efficiency standards are not weakened. These standards 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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