Iowa environmental advocates take aim at Trump vehicle standards

Iowa Democratic legislators and representatives of environmental organizations on Thursday said the Trump administration’s rollback of “clean car” regulations would cost lives and money.

“The administration’s reckless rollback would strip all states of their authority, established under the Clean Air Act, to control vehicle pollution to protect the health of their residents,” said Katie Rock, a Polk County Soil and Water Conservation District commissioner. 

“These critical public health protections also save every driver in the nation money in the midst of an unprecedented public health, economic, and climate crisis,” Rock said. She added that 26 million U.S. residents, including 6 million children, have asthma that could be worsened by greater vehicle emissions.

The administration finalized rules to require an annual gain of 1.5% in fuel efficiency per year, down from the Obama-era requirement of 5% a year.

Des Moines City Councilman Josh Mandelbaum said in his three years in office, the city has had to open cooling centers due to extreme heat, battled flash floods and faced a major wind storm. 

Now, the city’s water supply is threatened both by low river levels and toxic algae, he added.  

All of it is related to climate, Mandelbaum said.

“We know that with climate change, extreme weather events and every single one of the problems that we have faced and the challenges we faced in the last few years will continue to threaten and ravage our community,” said Mandelbaum, senior attorney for the Environmental Law & Policy Center.

“For the long-term health of our community, we must address climate change,” Mandelbaum said. “The clean car standards are an important tool in effectively addressing climate change. We know that the transportation sector has become the greatest source of greenhouse gas pollution,” he added.

Des Moines School Board member Kalyn Cody said climate change worsened by auto emissions is directly affecting classes by increasing severe weather events.

“A few years ago, I was still teaching in the classroom when the first polar vortex hit,” Cody said at a news conference held via Zoom. “I remember waking up at 5 a.m. every day and wondering, is ‘negative 48 degrees cold enough to close schools?’

“Now the question really is, what’s next? When will education be put on pause because of some unforeseen disaster?” Cody asked.

One defense against extreme weather events is to reduce air pollution, “which is why the rollback of the clean car standards is so distressing,” he added.

Matt Russell, executive director of Iowa Interfaith Power and Light, a nonprofit climate action group, said the rollback of standard is worse than wasteful.

“The rollback of clean car standards is unethical, and it puts corporate polluters above the health and well-being of Iowa families,” Russell said. 

State Rep. Sharon Steckman, D-Mason City, said the administration’s action is “a direct attack on the environment, our public health and our consumers.”

State Sen. Claire Celsi, D-West Des Moines said: “We have to fight back. We can’t give up.”

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S Department of Transportation in March said they were changing the rules to “put safety and American families first.”

At the time, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao said the change would promote “newer, safer, cleaner vehicles” that would be more affordable than under President Obama’s plan. The changes also should “reinvigorate American auto manufacturing by updating costly, increasingly unachievable fuel economy and vehicle (carbon dioxide) emissions standards,” she added.

The Trump version is currently the subject of court challenges.