Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Powell, Citing Jobs Risk, Opens Door to Cuts but Doesn’t Commit

8 hours ago

Gaza City Officially in Famine, With Hunger Spreading, Says Global Hunger Monitor

8 hours ago

Gavin Newsom’s Redistricting Plan Is on Its Way to Voters. What You Need to Know

23 hours ago

CARB Executive Leader Rips Trump’s EPA for Seeking to Kill Proven Climate Science

1 day ago

California Lawmakers Advance First Two Bills in Democrats’ Redistricting Plan

1 day ago

Judge Rules Alina Habba Was Unlawfully Appointed as US Attorney in New Jersey

1 day ago

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Latest Role Is Social Media Troll

1 day ago
23 Governors Join California in Opposing Trump Mileage Standards
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 6 years ago on
July 9, 2019

Share

WASHINGTON — Citing climate-damaging tailpipe emissions, 23 governors signed a pledge Tuesday backing California leaders in their showdown with the Trump administration over its plans to relax vehicle mileage standards.

The administration is expected to release its final rules on the mileage changes in late summer or early fall. California and other states have promised litigation to block them.
The pledge by leaders of states and Puerto Rico, most of them Democrats, comes as the administration seeks to ease tougher mileage standards laid out by former President Barack Obama as part of his efforts against climate change. Legal challenges to Trump’s policy proposal threaten to disrupt the auto industry for years, and an influential auto industry trade group is renewing its appeal for the compromise.
The administration says American consumers increasingly want bigger, less-efficient SUVs and pickup trucks. It argues that demanding ever-more fuel-efficient vehicles will drive up automobile costs and keep less-safe, older vehicles on the road longer; opponents challenge that claim.
The administration is expected to release its final rules on the mileage changes in late summer or early fall. California and other states have promised litigation to block them.
The governors’ pledge commits to sticking broadly to the pre-President Donald Trump mileage goals, a program of annual tightening in mileage standards that reduce climate-changing carbon emissions. Transportation and the power sector are the largest sources of heat-trapping fossil fuel pollution in the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency spokesman Michael Abboud said the administration was “pursuing one national standard to provide safe, affordable vehicles for consumers while also improving environmental outcomes.”

Prospects for Years of Legal Challenges

At stake is California’s ability to set its own emissions and fuel economy standards, a power granted by Congress in the Clean Air Act to combat the state’s smog problems in the 1970s. The state at one time had more stringent standards than federal ones, but the two sides voluntarily synced their standards under Obama.
The Trump administration has threatened to challenge California’s authority to set its own mileage standards, which are followed by about a dozen states.
The pledge says governors “will not compromise on our responsibility to protect the health of our communities, our climate, and the savings consumers stand to gain at the pump.” It promises “additional concrete actions to fulfill this duty and defend against any threats.”
Besides California and Puerto Rico, the pledge was signed by the leaders of Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.
The commitment from the states — representing a sizable share of the U.S. car market — underscores prospects for years of legal challenges and regulatory uncertainty for automakers if Trump moves ahead on the mileage freeze.
Sen. Tom Carper of Delaware, the top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, urged automakers to get behind the states in the interests of cutting carbon emission and advancing cleaner-burning vehicles.

 

Trump Pushes Automakers to Back His Approach

“Since the Trump administration seems determined to put all environmental progress into reverse, automakers should make clear that they will not support this rollback by working directly with California and these 23 states to drive automobile technology into the future,” Carper said in a statement.

“It is untenable to face a marketplace with different standards in different states, but it also untenable to face standards that rise so high that only a handful of electric vehicles can achieve them.” — Gloria Bergquist, Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers
But an auto industry group made clear it had worries about both sides’ position in the dispute.
“It is untenable to face a marketplace with different standards in different states, but it also untenable to face standards that rise so high that only a handful of electric vehicles can achieve them,” said Gloria Bergquist, spokeswoman for the Washington-based Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers.
“That is why automakers keep urging the federal government and states to find a middle ground that raises standards year over year while aligning with market demand.”
Trump has pushed automakers to back his approach. Last month, major automakers instead appealed for the administration to return to talks with California.
California Gov. Gavin Newson indicated he wasn’t optimistic about any breakthroughs with the administration.
“I don’t sense they’re sincere in their commitment to sit down and negotiate,” he said, and cited the administration’s overall backing for the country’s oil and gas industry.

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Atwater Prison Inmate Charged for Threatening to Kill Prosecutor’s Family

DON'T MISS

Multiple Passengers Are Killed After Bus Crashes in Western New York

DON'T MISS

Fresno Firefighters Contain Cambridge Avenue Blaze, No Injuries Reported

DON'T MISS

With Major Heat Risk Forecast, This Is a Good Weekend to Stay Indoors in Fresno

DON'T MISS

Trump Says Intel Has Agreed to Deal for US to Take 10% Equity Stake

DON'T MISS

Epstein Associate Maxwell Says She Never Saw Trump Behave Inappropriately

DON'T MISS

Wrongly Deported Migrant Abrego to Be Released Soon, Lawyer Says

DON'T MISS

Remembering Ron McCary, Who Did It All for KMJ

DON'T MISS

I Was Preyed On for My VA Benefits. California Can Stop It

DON'T MISS

Texas Senate Debates Redistricting Bill, Is Expected to Pass It Easily

UP NEXT

Texas Senate Debates Redistricting Bill, Is Expected to Pass It Easily

UP NEXT

Trump: DC Mayor Bowser Must Get Act Together or Won’t Be Mayor Anymore

UP NEXT

Wall Street Soars as Powell Hints at Rate Cut in September

UP NEXT

Trump’s Tariffs Could Reduce US Deficit by $4 Trillion, CBO Estimates

UP NEXT

Pew: US Immigrant Population Declines for First Time in Nearly 60 Years

UP NEXT

Canada to Remove Many Retaliatory Tariffs on US Goods, Says Source

UP NEXT

After Joining TikTok, Trump Says He Could Extend Sale Deadline if Needed

UP NEXT

Powell, Citing Jobs Risk, Opens Door to Cuts but Doesn’t Commit

UP NEXT

FBI Agents Search Ex-Trump Adviser Bolton’s Home, Source Says

UP NEXT

More Americans Applying for Refugee Status in Canada, Data Shows

With Major Heat Risk Forecast, This Is a Good Weekend to Stay Indoors in Fresno

2 hours ago

Trump Says Intel Has Agreed to Deal for US to Take 10% Equity Stake

3 hours ago

Epstein Associate Maxwell Says She Never Saw Trump Behave Inappropriately

3 hours ago

Wrongly Deported Migrant Abrego to Be Released Soon, Lawyer Says

3 hours ago

Remembering Ron McCary, Who Did It All for KMJ

4 hours ago

I Was Preyed On for My VA Benefits. California Can Stop It

4 hours ago

Texas Senate Debates Redistricting Bill, Is Expected to Pass It Easily

4 hours ago

Trump: DC Mayor Bowser Must Get Act Together or Won’t Be Mayor Anymore

4 hours ago

Community Shares Messages of Support for Joseph Castro While He Is in Hospice Care

4 hours ago

Bulldogs Hope to Make Kansas Dust in the Wind as Entz, Warner Debut

5 hours ago

Atwater Prison Inmate Charged for Threatening to Kill Prosecutor’s Family

A federal grand jury has indicted an Atwater prison inmate accused of threatening to kill the family of a federal prosecutor, U.S. Attorney ...

1 hour ago

The crest of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) is seen at their headquarters in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 10, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File photo
1 hour ago

Atwater Prison Inmate Charged for Threatening to Kill Prosecutor’s Family

First responders work at the scene of a bus crash on the New York State Thruway about 30 miles east of Buffalo, N.Y., on Friday afternoon, Aug. 22, 2025. The tour bus traveling from Niagara Falls to New York City crashed on a highway outside Buffalo on Friday, killing multiple passengers, including at least one child, and leaving some people trapped beneath the vehicle, officials said. (Lauren Petracca/The New York Times)
1 hour ago

Multiple Passengers Are Killed After Bus Crashes in Western New York

On Friday, August 22, 2025, Fresno firefighters contained a house fire on East Cambridge Avenue, preventing major damage and reporting no injuries. (Fresno Fire)
2 hours ago

Fresno Firefighters Contain Cambridge Avenue Blaze, No Injuries Reported

Fresno heat hot heatwave High Humidity
2 hours ago

With Major Heat Risk Forecast, This Is a Good Weekend to Stay Indoors in Fresno

A smartphone with a displayed Intel logo is placed on a computer motherboard in this illustration taken March 6, 2023. (Reuters File)
3 hours ago

Trump Says Intel Has Agreed to Deal for US to Take 10% Equity Stake

Ghislaine Maxwell appears via video link during her arraignment hearing in Manhattan Federal Court, in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S. July 14, 2020 in this courtroom sketch. (Reuters File)
3 hours ago

Epstein Associate Maxwell Says She Never Saw Trump Behave Inappropriately

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran migrant who lived in the U.S. legally with a work permit and was erroneously deported to El Salvador, is seen wearing a Chicago Bulls hat, in this handout image obtained by Reuters on April 9, 2025. (Reuters File)
3 hours ago

Wrongly Deported Migrant Abrego to Be Released Soon, Lawyer Says

Ron McCary
4 hours ago

Remembering Ron McCary, Who Did It All for KMJ

Search

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Send this to a friend