FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact:
Kristina Baum – 202.224.6176
Donelle Harder – 202.224.4721
WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), chairman of the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, released the following statement in regards to proposed greenhouse gas emissions standards for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles put out today by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA):
“The Obama Administration's proposed standard for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles is more of the same. President Obama’s EPA has continually acted outside of its bounds by pursuing programs and regulations that have never been authorized by Congress. Trailer emissions have never been regulated before and now are being required to decrease greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 24 percent. The Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standard program was supposed to be about energy security and efficiency. It has instead become another avenue for President Obama to solidify his legacy on climate change by imposing unreasonable red tape that will hurt America’s long-term economic potential and global competitiveness. As I’ve said before, the CAFE program is broken and it needs to be reviewed by Congress. There are many inequalities built into the program that warrant review, and this latest announcement is another excessive rule that adds layers onto similar EPA mandates that are already in place.”
On Dec. 12, the FY’15 NDAA passed Congress and included a provision authored by Inhofe and former-Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) to incentivize the production of NGVs. The law allows automakers to earn credits for compliance with the CAFE program by producing alternative fuel dual-fueled vehicles, and are subject to a cap. Prior to the Inhofe-Levin provision, automakers earned the majority of their allowed credits by producing E85 Flex-Fuel vehicles, leaving none left for NGVs. Their provision modified the program by removing the credit cap for natural gas dual-fueled vehicles.
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