U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), along with Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) and nine other senators, has sent a letter to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin urging the agency to reverse its plan to eliminate federal greenhouse gas emissions standards for passenger cars and trucks.
The EPA’s proposed rollback would remove the 2009 finding that greenhouse gas emissions are harmful to health and welfare by contributing to climate change. This finding forms the basis for EPA’s authority to regulate vehicle emissions. Lawmakers argue that undoing these standards could have serious consequences for public health, consumer costs, American jobs, and energy independence.
“If the Trump administration persists with eliminating federal vehicle greenhouse gas emissions standards, it will be responsible for damaging the environment, hurting public health, costing drivers money, cutting American jobs and competitiveness, and increasing our dependence on foreign oil,” wrote the lawmakers in their letter.
They further stated: “Americans should be able to drive and share the road with cleaner, more efficient vehicles that help clean up our air, save families money at the pump, and strengthen American competitiveness and energy independence. We urge you not to destroy these life- and cost-saving vehicle emission standards on the basis of faulty science and unlawful attacks on the clean air statutes passed by Congress.”
According to data cited in their letter, transportation is currently the leading source of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. Cars and trucks make up 80 percent of those emissions within the sector. The lawmakers highlighted that removing regulations could result in unchecked emissions leading to worsening climate change impacts such as severe weather events.
The letter also noted that strong clean vehicle standards have led to significant fuel savings for drivers since 2001. If current policies remain unchanged, drivers are projected to save an additional $6,000 per vehicle over five years due to reduced fuel costs.
In addition to Senators Hirono and Markey, signatories include Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Jack Reed (D-RI), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).
The senators argue that maintaining robust emission standards is essential not only for environmental reasons but also for economic competitiveness as global markets shift toward zero-emission vehicles. They warned that rolling back these measures could undermine U.S. manufacturing jobs tied to clean vehicles—a sector which they say has grown faster than traditional automotive industries—and increase reliance on imported oil.
A full copy of their letter is available from Senator Hirono’s office.
