Washington, D.C. — In response to Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler’s finalized plan to reverse America’s clean car standards in the midst of a global respiratory pandemic, Christy Goldfuss, senior vice president for Energy and Environment Policy at the Center for American Progress, issued the following statement:
In the middle of a severe national health crisis, President Donald Trump and former coal lobbyist Andrew Wheeler have chosen to deny reality and hand Big Oil yet another win by gutting our nation’s clean cars standards. It’s absolutely unconscionable that this administration is moving forward with these kinds of pro-polluter regulatory actions that are not at all related to the pandemic response. Not only will this move increase local and national air pollution that contributes to respiratory damage in the middle of this emergency, but it will also contribute to the climate crisis and reduce job-creating innovation in the auto industry when current job losses are stark.
At a time when scientists are telling us that we must transform our economy and build a 100 percent clean future as soon as we possibly can, this outrageous action moves us closer to a future climate that is inhospitable to humanity.
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