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Utilities, Tesla Appeal Federal Rollback of Auto Emissions Standards (arstechnica.com)
A coalition of utilities and electric vehicle makers, including Tesla, are petitioning the EPA to reconsider its recent plan to roll back auto emissions standards. In April, the EPA said that it would relax greenhouse gas emissions standards that had been put in place for model year 2022-2025 vehicles. Ars Technica reports: The National Coalition for Advanced Transportation (NCAT) represents 12 utilities as well as Tesla, electric truck maker Workhorse, and EV charging network EVgo. NCAT earlier this month asked the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington, DC to review the EPA's latest efforts to relax the Obama-era fuel economy standards.
The coalition challenge to the EPA follows a similar challenge made by 17 states, including California. The utilities' efforts show that they're interested in protecting one of the major projected avenues for growth in electricity demand. Electricity consumption has stagnated in the U.S. as efficiency measures take effect and, in some states, solar panels make it easier for residents to buy less electricity from the local utility.
The coalition challenge to the EPA follows a similar challenge made by 17 states, including California. The utilities' efforts show that they're interested in protecting one of the major projected avenues for growth in electricity demand. Electricity consumption has stagnated in the U.S. as efficiency measures take effect and, in some states, solar panels make it easier for residents to buy less electricity from the local utility.
It's also horse shit. The CARB has been in talks with automakers all along, and all of them have been on track with models which meet the requirements. In fact, they could have met the targets early.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
CAFE standard as passed by Congress [wikipedia.org] set CAFE to 35 MPG by 2020; President Obama used an executive action to raise it to 41+ MPG. Well, it's been rolled-back to the passed law.
The 41.5 mpg standard would have meant that ICE cars would increase in price dramatically while plunging in performance metrics, and also in crash survivability as structure is sacrificed for reductions in vehicle weight to increase mpg.
As a result, people would keep their old ICE cars with lower mpg and higher emissions on the road far longer, defeating much of the reasons for higher CAFE standards that have been touted.
I guess some here would rather see people keeping their old lower-mileage,higher-emission cars on the road rather than settle for 35mpg.
Strat
Progressivism (aka US 'Liberalism'): Ideas so good they need a police/surveillance-state to enforce.