State Attorney General George Jepsen isn’t happy with President Donald Trump’s recent policy stance to ease emissions standards for vehicle tailpipes.
The standards in question, which automakers oppose arguing it will cost them more than $200 billion over 13 years, were first forged in 2012 and would affect light-duty vehicles with model years between 2022 and 2025.
The Environmental Protection Agency was supposed to review the standards by 2018 to determine if they were still appropriate. But in former President Barack Obama’s final days in office in January, the EPA sped up that decision, determining that the standards should remain. It was seen by some as an attempt to make the standards more permanent, according to Wired.com
The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers petitioned a federal appeals court on March 13 to overturn the EPA determination, arguing the agency had overstepped its authority. Trump’s announcement came two days later during a visit to Detroit.
Jepsen said he intends to intervene in the AAM lawsuit on behalf of Connecticut. Most other New England states have also vowed to fight the emissions rollback.
Jepsen said the EPA review is “an attempt to wrest well-established authority from those states that have adopted stricter pollution standards – a position entirely inconsistent with the [Trump’s] self-professed respect for state’s rights.”
“Emission standards serve an important purpose in not only combating climate change but also in protecting the safety, health and well-being of our residents,” Jepsen said in a statement. “As a downwind state, and a state that has taken considerable steps toward improving its air quality, these actions are disappointing and deeply concerning.”
