AG James’ Statement on Trump Rollback of Fuel Economy Standards

NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James issued the following statement on the Trump administration’s rollback today of federal emission and fuel economy standards for cars and light-duty trucks:

“Today, the Trump administration is stunting our nation’s progress in the fight for clean air, climate change, and the protection of consumers’ wallets. Weakening vehicle emission and fuel economy standards paves the way for tens of millions of Americans to breathe dirtier air and for billions of tons more greenhouse gases to be pumped into our atmosphere. I will continue to work with attorneys general from across the country to fight the administration’s reckless action.”

In October 2018, the New York State Office of the Attorney General joined a coalition of 26 attorneys general and city attorneys in comments opposing the proposed rule, noting that the proposal is legally and technically flawed and would severely harm human health and the environment nationwide. After the federal Environmental Protection Agency and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration bifurcated the rulemaking and finalized their proposals to preempt states from enforcing their own standards in November 2019, the coalition filed lawsuits challenging those actions. Those lawsuits are now pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.