EPA Chief Says Agency, California ‘Far Apart’ on Car Emissions
by Ryan Beene, Jennifer A Dlouhy, and David R Baker (Bloomberg) Wheeler, Nichols signal little progress on auto MPG agreement; State shouldn’t have authority on C02 emissions, Wheeler says — U.S. and California officials agreed Monday on one thing about auto emissions standards: they’re still miles from an agreement, with a crucial deadline just two months away.
In separate comments, Sacramento and Washington’s top environmental regulators said they’ve yet to overcome a long-running impasse over the Trump administration’s proposal to cap auto emissions and fuel economy standards after 2020 and strip California of its authority to regulate tailpipe carbon dioxide emissions.
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After briefly meeting with Wheeler in San Francisco on Monday, California Air Resources Board Chairman Mary Nichols said the two sides remain at odds over the proposal and that a fundamental philosophical disagreement exists over the federal proposal to unwind California’s power to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from autos.
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“That disagreement may turn into a legal disagreement at some point,” Nichols said during remarks at the Bloomberg NEF Summit San Francisco. “I think it’s also correct to say that we have some reason to hope that we could possibly reach a resolution, not so much because I think we’re going to change their minds through the force of our arguments, as that the auto industry itself has made it very clear that they don’t want this fight. ”
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The EPA and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have already proposed stripping California of its authority to set its own tailpipe greenhouse gas emission limits for new cars and trucks, a potent bargaining chip to extract concessions from the largest state for U.S. auto sales.
California’s Waiver
In the interview, Wheeler said California should not have that authority. READ MORE includes VIDEO
The Interaction of the Clean Air Act, California’s CAA Waiver, Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standards, Renewable Fuel Standards and California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (Advanced Biofuels USA)
LYFT SAYS AUTO RULE ROLLBACK ‘MAKES NO SENSE’: (Politico’s Morning Energy)
Excerpt from Politico’s Morning Energy: LYFT SAYS AUTO RULE ROLLBACK ‘MAKES NO SENSE’: Lyft has joined California’s legal battle over EPA’s decision to roll back auto emissions standards, which the rideshare company said “makes no sense.” In a “friend of the court” brief, Lyft said its drivers rack up a lot of miles and argued that the current “ambitious but achievable” goals for future model year vehicles are what motivate automakers to invest in efficiency technologies.
“Auto manufacturers are often slow to develop efficient vehicles even when there is growing demand for them. EPA’s standards correct for this, helping support the innovation that moves the economy forward,” Lyft wrote. This lawsuit is unlikely to be resolved before the end of the year, but EPA and NHTSA hope their new auto rule will be finished by the end of next month. READ MORE
