CHAIRMAN ROUDA'S OPENING STATEMENT

PURPOSE

• The hearing will examine the health and environmental impacts of the proposal to freeze Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) and greenhouse gas emissions standards at 2020 levels, rolling back the Obama Administration’s guidelines that would increase standards to 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025.
   
• The Subcommittee will probe the fossil fuel industry’s influence over the regulatory decision-making process at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) under President Trump and will also address the consequences of revoking California’s legal right to set more stringent tailpipe emissions standards.

BACKGROUND

• A clean cars rollback would have negative health, environmental, and economic impacts. For example, in October 2018, dozens of public health organizations sent a letter to the EPA and NHTSA, stating that the Administration’s proposed rollback would result in “an overall increase in particulate pollution and sulfur dioxide emissions.”
   
• Although the Trump administration has claimed its proposed rule would lead to fewer traffic fatalities, experts like Dr. Antonio Bento, who will testify at the hearing, have analyzed the regulatory record behind these statements and found the Administration relied on “cherry-picked” data to reach these conclusions. 
   
• The Trump Administration’s announced revocation of California’s waiver was seen by many, including California officials, to be another example of President Trump using the EPA to retaliate against political adversaries.  Governor Newsom remarked that the President’s decision to revoke the waiver was “reckless and politically motivated.”