Clean Air Watch

The House Committee on Energy and Commerce Holds Hearing on Electric Vehicles The House Committee on Energy and Commerce Energy Subcommittee held a hearing today on “The Clean Future Act: Driving Decarbonization of the Transportation Sector”. The committee members heard testimony from:   Amol Phadke, M.S., Ph.D, Staff Scientist and Deputy Department Head, International Energy…

NHTSA Proposes Reinstating California Emissions Authority The National Highway Transit Safety Administration (NHTSA) is proposing restoring California and other state’s ability to set more stringent limits on greenhouse gas emissions from vehicle tailpipes. California has a waiver under the Clean Air Act that gives the state special regulatory authority in environmental issues. However, the Trump…

Coalition of State Governors Ask Biden for Exclusively Zero-Emission Vehicles by 2035 The twelve governors of California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island and Washington sent a letter to President Joe Biden this week urging him to set a zero-emission transportation goal for 2035. In their…

Bipartisan Coalition Introduce Securing America’s Clean Fuels Infrastructure Act U.S. Senators Tom Carper (D-Del), Richard Burr (R-NC), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev), and Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich) introduced the Securing America’s Clean Fuels Infrastructure Act this morning. This legislation would improve and expand the Alternative Fuel Vehicle Refueling Property Investment Tax Credit (ITC) (commonly referred to as…

Sen. Feinstein and Sen. Padilla Urge White House to Reinstate California Clean Air Waiver Senators Diane Feinstein (D-CA) and Alex Padilla (D-CA), sent a letter this week to President Joe Biden pushing the White House to reinstate the California Clean Air Act Waiver. The waiver, which allows California the authority to set independent greenhouse gas…

Automakers Withdrawal from California Emissions Litigation The Coalition for Sustainable Automotive Regulation (CSAR), a coalition of automakers including Toyota Motor Corp., Fiat Chrysler, and Hyundai, announced this morning their withdrawal from an emissions lawsuit between California and the federal government. The group of automakers have been defending the federal government in their petition to revoke…

Analysis: Electric Vehicle Adoption The Biden administration has made it clear that environmental reform and fighting climate change will be a top policy issue for the next four years. A central tenet of new environmental policy is likely to be a push for electric and zero-emission vehicles. Read an analysis of electric vehicle adoption here.…

President Biden Signs Executive Order on the Climate Crisis President Biden signed today an “Executive Order on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad”. This executive order is the first step in the Biden administration’s sweeping plans for environmental reform over the next four years. In the order, President Biden reiterates his goal of…

Minnesota Auto Dealers Sue Over Clean Cars Rule The Minnesota Auto Dealers filed a suit against the state of Minnesota today in federal court. The lawsuit is an effort to stop the state from adopting harsher clean car standards set by the state of California. The auto dealers argue that the new standards would raise…