One of the Trump administration’s top priorities has been rolling back environmental regulations, and this is one area in which it has been ruthlessly efficient. The New York Times estimates that, to date, this administration has killed or watered down some 100 environmental protections. However, one big prize continues to elude the administration’s wrecking crew:… Read more »
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Be careful what you wish for department: Automakers now say Trump rollback of emissions standards goes too far
The legacy automakers are like a hopelessly lost driver, stuck at a fork in the road with no clue which direction to take. Two days after Trump’s election in 2016, they sent him a letter asking for previously-agreed fuel economy standards to be watered down. The new administration enthusiastically agreed, and began dismantling these and… Read more »
Former EPA official: US automakers’ EV strategies are irrational
These days, not a week goes by without an announcement of some major electrification initiative from a major carmaker: Nissan’s new LEAF is coming to the US soon, GM is actually advertising its Bolt EV, VW and Daimler have each announced a range of new EVs (for China, at least), and Volvo and Jaguar have… Read more »
NRDC report quantifies American jobs supported by fuel economy standards
Over 288,000 American workers are employed building technologies for the auto industry to reduce pollution and improve gas mileage, according to a new report from the Natural Resources Defense Council. “Supplying Ingenuity II: U.S. Suppliers of Key Clean, Fuel-Efficient Vehicle Technologies,” a joint production of NRDC and the BlueGreen Alliance, finds that hundreds of thousands… Read more »
Driving the Future: Combating Climate Change with Cleaner, Smarter Cars (review)
Driving the Future, by former EPA official Margo Oge, tells the fascinating story of how the agency achieved a historic agreement with the auto industry to improve fuel economy and reduce emissions – an agreement that delivered cleaner air and millions of dollars in savings for consumers, and gave a huge boost to the growing… Read more »
GM’s rosy year-end figures obscure the fact that legacy automakers are in deep trouble
Duplicitous doublespeak has become de rigueur dialect in the auto industry. “We remain committed to an all-electric future,” says GM as it announces a rollback of its electrification plans. “We strongly believe in EVs,” say auto dealers as they support efforts to slow the EV transition. “The greatest responsibility for us as a company is… Read more »
ICCT report: deploying charging infrastructure in key freight corridors would enable meeting EPA emissions goals
A favorite argument of the anti-EV crowd (or perhaps I should say, the crowd that “loves EVs,” but just wants to delay adoption for a decade or two) is a lack of sufficient charging infrastructure. Recently, truck manufacturers including Volvo and Daimler (big EV fans both) asked the EPA for a three-year delay of the… Read more »
Dodge to retire gas-powered Challenger and Charger
What will be the “EV tipping point” that marks the beginning of the end of the Oil Age? Of course, there won’t be any one dramatic tipping point, but rather a long series of milestones, and some of the most visible of these will be the end of production of iconic gas-powered models. Dodge parent… Read more »
NHTSA raises fines for automakers that violate fuel economy rules
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has reinstated a previously-enacted increase in penalties for automakers whose vehicles don’t meet fuel efficiency standards for model years 2019 and beyond. Federal fuel efficiency requirements have proven to be an effective incentive for legacy automakers to begin selling EVs (they have also saved drivers millions of dollars… Read more »
Strict US auto emission and efficiency standards are history (updated)
As expected, the USA’s Climate-Change-Denier-In-Chief will move towards rolling back federal regulations on vehicle emissions. The change, which could undo one of President Barack Obama’s most significant environmental legacies, does not require action by Congress. Reuters reports that an announcement is expected from the Trump administration as soon as Tuesday. The expected order will reopen… Read more »