Seven environmental groups are taking Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt to court over his decision to roll back federal fuel-efficiency rules.
“We’ve warned Scott Pruitt that any attack on our clean air or water would be met by resistance in the streets and in the courtroom,” said Sierra Club chief climate lawyer Joanne Spalding. “Today’s lawsuit serves as yet another reminder to Pruitt that we will never back down from that claim.”
[Also read: Chuck Grassley will call for Scott Pruitt to resign if he doesn’t move on Trump’s ethanol fix]
The group petitioned the D.C. Circuit Court for Appeals on Tuesday to review the EPA’s decision to undo the Obama administration’s plan to move ahead with more stringent fuel economy rules for cars and light trucks.
The petition “initiates a court challenge” over Pruitt’s April decision that the fuel economy rules are “not appropriate” and should be rolled back. The environmental groups argue that the administration plans the rollback although automakers are meeting the standards faster and more affordably than predicted.
The groups include Ralph Nader’s consumer watchdog Public Citizen, the Center for Biological Diversity, the Conservation Law Foundation, the Environmental Defense Fund, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Sierra Club, and the Union of Concerned Scientists.
“The Trump administration’s proposed reversal would loot up to $100 billion from consumers at the gas pump,” said Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen. “The administration’s plans are contrary to law and to common sense.”
The filing follows California’s lawsuit against the administration’s proposed decision to create one nationwide fuel efficiency program, rather than allow California to have its own competing standards as it has had decades.
President Trump met with the automakers and Pruitt Friday to discuss a Corporate Average Fuel Economy draft proposal to reportedly keep fuel efficiency requirements at 2020 levels for the next five years. That would mean that each of the automakers should be producing fleets of cars that average 30 miles per gallon through 2025.
The Friday meeting resulted in Trump wanting to sit down with California to negotiate. Trump has directed Pruitt and Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao to begin reaching out to the California administration to begin discussions on a reaching a deal.
