Seventeen states, led by California and including Maryland and Virginia, plus DC, have sued the Trump administration over its proposed weakening of emissions standards. A leaked administration proposal suggests freezing emissions standards in 2020. Without greater efforts to reach a compromise, the emissions question could become bogged down in litigation.
Automakers want more flexibility in dealing with the Obama-era emissions goals. But Mitch Bainwol, CEO of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, told a Congressional panel last week that automakers are accepting of emissions standards that would rise every year – just at a level that auto buyers will accept.
“We support standards that increase year over year that also are consistent with marketplace realities,” Bainwol said in his testimony.
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