General Motors, Fiat Chrysler, and Toyota, plus a trade association called the Association of Global Automakers announced on Monday they plan to intervene in a lawsuit filed by the Environmental Defense Fund against the Trump administration, which is planning to roll back national pollution and gas mileage standards enacted under the Obama administration.
In a statement directed to Motor1.com, representatives of the three automakers said they are now part of a newly formed Coalition for Sustainable Automotive Regulation. General Motors clarified that “the Coalition has joined together to seek intervention in the lawsuit with the purpose of seeking one national standard. This is not in regards to the standards themselves and what they may be when the final rule is released but about the need for one program.”
The coalition also includes members of the Association of Global Automakers – including Mazda, Nissan Motor Co, Kia Motors Corp, and Subaru Co. John Bozzella, the president and chief executive of Global Automakers said the companies had little choice but to back the administration.
“The certainty of one national program, with reasonable, achievable standards, is the surest way to reduce emissions in the timeliest manner,” said Bozzella. “With our industry facing the possibility of multiple, overlapping and inconsistent standards that drive up costs and penalize consumers, we had an obligation to intervene.”
Folks will remember that Ford, BMW, Honda, and Volkswagen took the extraordinary step of making a deal with California for standards stricter than what the Trump administration proposed in its rollback. While California’s emission standards are higher than what is being proposed, the Trump administration wants to freeze the standards at 2021 levels through 2025.
California has 35 million registered vehicles, the most of any state. A dozen other states and the District of Columbia also follow California’s fuel economy standards.
