The Clovers who believe their fetish for “efficient” cars – no matter how expensive they are – ought to be imposed on others not so afflicted are pushing back against new EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s apparent intention to at least reconsider the fuel economy (and emissions) fatwas passed during the last two weeks of the Obama regime.
U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and 11 other Democrats said on Tuesday it was “critical” that the Trump administration leave in place new vehicle fuel efficiency rules, saying the higher standards were “achievable.”
Yeah, and it’s also “achievable” to house everyone in a 300 square foot cube. The questions is – should it be done? And – should it be done at gunpoint?
Scott Pruitt, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, is expected to announce as early as this week the reopening of a review of the rules that were set by the Obama administration for the 2022-2025 period.
Automakers say the changes, which would raise the fleet average fuel efficiency to more than 50 miles per gallon by 2025 from 27.5 mpg in 2010, will impose significant costs and are out of step with consumer preferences. They argue they need more flexibility to meet the rules amid low gas prices.
Environmentalists, who favor the new standards, say they would reduce fuel costs and greenhouse gases and have vowed to sue if the Trump administration weakens them.
“These automobile emissions standards are economically feasible and technologically achievable for the auto industry,” the Democratic senators wrote in a letter to Pruitt. “It is critical that they remain in place.”
EPA spokeswoman Cathy Milbourn declined to comment on the letter “since the agency has not announced how it will proceed on the vehicle emission standards.” The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trade groups representing automakers including General Motors, Ford Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. have asked the EPA to withdraw the rules, which stem from a 2011 deal the industry reached with the U.S. government.
The CEOs of GM, Ford, and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, along with the top North American executives at Toyota, Volkswagen, Honda, Hyundai Motor Co. and others separately have urged President Donald Trump to revisit the decision.
The Obama administration in 2011 said the changes would save motorists $1.7 trillion in fuel costs over the life of the vehicles and cost the auto industry only about $200 billion over 13 years.
The EPA is also considering taking steps to reverse California’s waiver under the Clean Air Act that allows it to set its own vehicle greenhouse gas emissions standards. California has repeatedly vowed to vigorously contest any efforts to withdraw its authority, and in January it hired former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to represent it.
At the Geneva auto show, Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne told reporters he opposed the Obama administration’s decision to finalize the rules.
“We have simply asked that the case be reopened to understand what the consequences would be of the norms introduced five years ago,” Marchionne said, adding that he expects to “see a positive reply in the coming days” from the Trump administration.
I have pleasant dreams of Norman Bates, in his mama’s dress, stabbing Chuckie with a big chef’s knife…..stabbing and stabbing until he gets tennis elbow from it. Get some, Norman. You can do it, son. ahaha.
Norm did a good job. Bring him back.
That photo of Schumer shows on his ugly face, what he thinks of voters. The pointing finger, that weird look in his eyes and the smug smile show the contempt he has for us.
He is saying, “I am smarter then you, I know better then you, I make the rules and you will live with them”. “If you don’t like it, f**k you, you’re going to make me rich too.”
The problem is, most if not all politicians are dumber then a box of rocks.
” most if not all politicians are dumber then a box of rocks” except that most of them manage to make a lot of money at it, more than they could at a real job.
Humans don’t like intelligence. They like social manipulation. So human society is dominated by those best at manipulation. What made the USA different was that it had, had a system to reward those who had skills, intelligence, talents, and/or work ethics. That system is almost exterminated. A dim light here and there. It’s back to social manipulation. Working institutions.
Brent, that sums it up. There was a time when people who could think on their feet, could think for themselves with little to no constraints were admired. No longer. We have the MSM of two flavors, two strict and supposedly opposite lines of thought and you pick one, get on board for the ride and never have to worry your pea brain about anything. This is exactly the mindset of the people who voted for Georgie Bush, an adolescent in a man’s body with a retarded brain. He had religion served to him every week as his penance for quitting his favorite drugs yet he could tell you nothing about those lessons. He was best at old boyisms and he wasn’t even passable at those. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice……heh heh…..well, you shouldn’t fool me twice heh heh heh.
I’m ashamed to say my generation, the one with so many shakers and movers not of the go along to get along crowd turned out in record numbers to let an idiot tell them what they believed, another divide in this country that beget even a more insidious bunch led by a foreigner who hated white America. Nothing but organized idiots now from sea to stinkin sea.
richb, I have referred to McCain for the last couple decades as “Insane McCain” but ol Chuck just may have upstaged Johnny boy with his not so subtle call for someone to murder Trump. Yep, he’s full of himself and if he needs some ballast I’d be glad to oblige. As Chow would say “That’s one sick bitch”.
That was Schumer’s FACE??!! I thought it was his ass! Dear goodness!
lMAO ha ha ha ha
Since the EPA was started by a presidential order – Nixon, the root of most of today’s evil – it would be great for president Trump to order its demise….along with a bunch of the other evil alphabet agencies such as DEA, DHS, TSA, BLM, pick you unfavorite. You could probably hear the screams of the cloverific all the way to the space station if such a thing were ever proposed but I’m old now and that’s one fantasy I want to hang onto.
Random thought…. how many of the agencies the democrats say we can’t live without were started by republicans and how many by democrats?
Republican’s have founded quite a few of them. The reality is that both parties are the parties of big government. And if somehow one or both of them were replaced by a new party, that new party would quickly become a party of big government.
Politicians aren’t going to solve the problems they created. Why would they?
That’s the question people don’t seem to get.
“Politicians aren’t going to solve the problems they created.”
Because the only answer they have is ‘more of the same,’ as in ‘throw more money at it.’
Heaven forbid they admit they were wrong and undo something.
What really annoys me is that, as a practical matter, the Government should “declare victory” on the whole MPG and CAFE issue and move on. If Liberals *really wanted* to make some street cred and inroads with Conservatives and Libertarians, they should say something like this: “Thanks be to the forethought and wisdom of our Liberal policies concerning CAFE over the years, and after enduring many types of Government intrusions for many years, we have reduced oil consumption from X million barrels a day to 1/2X million barrels. We have reduced noxious emissions from Y tons/year to 1/2Y tons/per year. This program has been a great success and benefited our society in countless ways. We thank you for putting up with us on this and hope that you will bear with us in the future when we try something similar.”
Rather than continually pushing to the point where the only thing that becomes evident is that they simply hunger for power and control over every aspect of society. They dont care about the environment or gas or one iota. The point of diminishing returns has been met. Now, it’s all about power and control.
” What really annoys me is that, as a practical matter, the government should ‘declare victory’ on the whole m.p.g. and C.A.F.E. issue and move on. If Liberals ‘really wanted’ to make some street cred and inroads with Conservatives and libertarians, they should say something like this: ‘Thanks being to the forethought and wisdom of policies concerning C.A.F.E. over the years, and after enduring many types of government intrusions for many years, we have reduced oil consumption from X million barrels a day to 1/2X million barrels. We have reduced noxious emissions from Y tons/year to 1/2Y tons/per year.’ ”
This dude took the words right out of my mouth . . .
. . .even grandstanding isn’t high on the leftist to-do-list anymore relative to boot-squarely-upon-neck economics!
(paradiseandfaries.com)
Never mind that last minute moves by the Obama regime moved up setting these rules in place. The “public” was entitled to at least another year to “comment” on the proposed rule-making. The rules weren’t supposed to be set until early 2018.
If anything, the Trump regime should at minimum, return it to the original timeline. No one yelled and screamed when the public was cut off by the outgoing regime. That should be the scandal, that Obama decided on his own to push ahead, ignoring the general public. Imagine how they would yell if Trump cut off public debate. They yell even when he isn’t cutting off public debate.
The Obama regime thought that they would be followed by the Hillary regime, and until Trump’s surprise win thought their rules would be safely made permanent. Its a political jab they made knowing that Trump could revisit these upcoming rules.
The sad thing, I doubt they will change them.