Lauren Lantry, (202) 549-6599 or lauren.lantry@sierraclub.org
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Yesterday, during EPA administrator Scott Pruitt’s congressional hearing, Pruitt announced the EPA will be partnering with Toyota on an operational review. Toyota’s vehicles are regulated by the EPA under vehicle emission standards (clean car standards). Toyota is currently urging the EPA to weaken these standards. In March of 2003, the EPA reached a settlement with Toyota for failing to disclose information about a faulty part that increased ozone pollution in 2.2 million vehicles sold in the U.S.
In response, Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune released the following statement:
"Scott Pruitt is putting big polluters in the driver's seat. To partner with Toyota, a company regulated by the Agency and currently lobbying to roll back vehicle emission safeguards, in an internal review is a blatant conflict of interest. Nobody would employ a bank robber as a bank manager, so why is Scott Pruitt putting polluters in charge of reviewing the very agency tasked with limiting pollution?”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3 million members and supporters. In addition to helping people from all backgrounds explore nature and our outdoor heritage, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.