Trump hits carmakers for not backing fuel economy rollback

PHOTO / FREEPIK

HE wants to roll back Obama-era fuel efficiency standards, but some carmakers are not supporting his call. And so US President Donald Trump goes on the offensive, singling out Ford Motor Co. in particular.

News agency Reuters said in a report Ford is one of four carmakers, along with Honda Motor Co., BMW AG and Volkswagen AG, that reached a voluntary agreement with California on fuel efficiency rules, defying Trump and his administration’s effort to strip the state of the right to fight climate change by setting its own standards.

The rules under the California plan are looser than the Obama-era regulations but stricter than what the Trump has proposed, according to Reuters.

Trump said company founder Henry Ford would be “very disappointed if he saw his modern-day descendants wanting to build a much more expensive car, that is far less safe and doesn’t work as well, because execs don’t want to fight California regulators,” Reuters quoted the chief executive as saying.

Ford said in a statement that it is focused on acting to protect the environment while also protecting the affordability of vehicles. “This agreement with California provides regulatory stability while reducing CO2 more than complying with two different standards,” the company said in a statement.

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra responded to Trump’s attacks on carmakers, saying it would result in an additional 540 million metric tons of greenhouse gases and other harms.

“This doesn’t look like a better alternative to us,” he said.

The White House has urged other carmakers not to back the California agreement while Democrats have been calling and writing carmakers urging them to sign on with California.

The Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday ridiculed the voluntary framework, which it said “so far has been nothing more than a press release.”

“My proposal to the politically correct automobile companies would lower the average price of a car to consumers by more than $3,000, while at the same time making the cars substantially safer. Engines would run smoother. Very little impact on the environment! Foolish executives!” Trump said in a tweet.