More Automakers Drop Out Of Trump Lawsuit Seeking To Roll Back Auto Emission Rules
Toyota, Fiat Chrysler and several other automakers announced this week that they are abandoning a legal battle between the Trump Administration and California over the state’s right to set its own standards for greenhouse gas emissions and fuel economy rules.
Last year, GM, Fiat Chrysler, Toyota and 10 other automakers sided with the Trump Administration in a lawsuit filed by environmental groups challenging the Administration’s plans to roll back emissions and gas mileage standards and strip California’s authority to set its own emission standards.
Ford, Honda, BMW and Volkswagen sided with California and cut a separate deal with the state to meet a 50-mpg fleetwide standard by 2026 for all vehicles sold nationwide.
Now that Biden is President, the automakers realized that continuing support for the Trump roll-back is no longer a viable way forward and have pledged to work with the Biden Administration to come up with a single nationwide corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standard.
The automakers will likely find common ground between the Obama and Trump Administration’s fuel economy standards.
In a statement, the automakers, under the banner of the Coalition for Sustainable Automotive Regulation (CSAR), said “We are aligned with the Biden Administration’s goals to achieve year-over-year improvements in fuel economy standards that provide meaningful climate and national energy security benefits, reduce GHG emissions and promote advanced technologies,” the group said.
“In a gesture of good faith and to find a constructive path forward, the CSAR has decided to withdraw from this lawsuit in order to unify the auto industry behind a single national program, with ambitious, achievable standards.”
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