March, 09 2022, 02:10pm EDT
Union of Concerned Scientists Applauds Repeal of Trump-Era Agency Action Scrapping California's Clean Car Standards
Statement by Michelle Robinson, Union of Concerned Scientists
WASHINGTON
Today, the Environmental Protection Agency reinstated the waiver acknowledging California's authority to administer and enforce its clean car rules. The state's authority to set more stringent greenhouse gas emissions standards and zero-emissions vehicle requirements was withdrawn by the previous administration, putting state climate leadership at risk, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS).
Below is a statement by Michelle Robinson, director of the Clean Transportation Program at UCS.
"Today is an important day for the future of transportation policy. EPA did the right thing by reinstating the waiver, without which California was prevented from enforcing higher greenhouse gas emissions standards and effectively promoting zero-emissions vehicles. The previous administration's agency action relied on a deeply flawed understanding of the law and thwarted the ability of states to take important steps toward limiting carbon emissions. Today's reinstatement of the waiver is an important milestone in the fight to preserve critical environmental regulations undone by the Trump administration."
UCS, represented by Democracy Forward Foundation, along with allied public interest organizations, had filed a petition for review in November 2019 asking the D.C. Circuit to invalidate EPA's waiver withdrawal. While that case remained pending, the new administration undertook a review of the prior agency action, culminating in today's decision to reinstate California's waiver. During the course of that review, in July 2021, UCS, again represented by Democracy Forward Foundation, along with eleven other public interest groups, submitted a comment in response to EPA's plan to reinstate the waiver. In the comment, the groups stated that "the Trump EPA lacked statutory authority for its Waiver Withdrawal."
The Union of Concerned Scientists is the leading science-based nonprofit working for a healthy environment and a safer world. UCS combines independent scientific research and citizen action to develop innovative, practical solutions and to secure responsible changes in government policy, corporate practices, and consumer choices.
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Civil liberties defenders on Thursday decried the U.S. Senate's advancement of the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act, which critics say lawmakers are trying to ram through without protection against warrantless surveillance and with a provision that would effectively make every American a spy whether they like it or not.
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Columbia President Minouche Shafik informed the campus community on Thursday that she had authorized the police to clear the encampment.
As it has been in the past, the school has become a center of anti-war protests—and crackdowns by school officials and the police—since Israel began its bombardment of Gaza in October.
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