EPA drops mention of 'climate change' in auto emissions reversal
WASHINGTON _ The phrase "climate change" is nowhere to be found in the 38-page document outlining the Environmental Protection Agency's finding that auto efficiency standards enacted by the Obama administration to fight climate change are too aggressive.
The standards were the agency's first major effort to slash greenhouse gas emissions after it determined the gases presented a hazard to public health.
Indeed, former EPA chief Gina McCarthy called climate change "the primary policy driver" of the auto rules and devoted 10 pages to climate science when she proposed in November 2016 that the standards through 2025 were feasible and should remain in place.
The revised final determination, released Monday by current EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, reversed that decision. It doesn't mention climate change or public health.
Among the reasons cited in the new document were auto industry comments that the costs of meeting the carbon targets could price some consumers out of the market, thus keeping older, less-efficient cars on the road for longer, undermining the goals of the rules.
_Bloomberg News
