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Democratic attorneys general in three Mountain West states are criticizing the Trump administration’s plans to revoke a landmark climate rule.
Since 2009, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s “endangerment finding” has held that certain greenhouse gases harm human health and the environment. Now, the agency wants to repeal emission regulations for vehicles, citing costs to consumers and private industry.
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes joined Colorado and New Mexico’s top attorneys in speaking out against the proposed rule change this week.
“The EPA is proposing to bury its head in the sand and ignore the mounting cost of climate change for all Americans,” Mayes said.
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser called the EPA’s proposal “misguided.”
“Ignoring common sense, including scientific research from our own government, is a recipe for disaster,” he said in a press release.
The EPA is challenging the underlying science used in the endangerment finding and said the rule has been used to justify more than $1 trillion in regulations. It has also said that the auto industry has suffered from “significant uncertainties” amid these emission regulations.
“Finally, EPA is proposing to provide much needed certainty and regulatory relief, so companies can plan appropriately, and the American people can have affordable choices when deciding to buy a car,” an agency press release stated.
This comes as the Trump administration rolls back policies promoting electric vehicles.
At the time of publication, the EPA had received more than 70,000 comments online regarding the plan. The agency had initially planned to host two full days of virtual public comments this week, but added two more to meet the demand.
The final rule is expected before the end of the year. Comments will be accepted online through Sept. 22.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
