Last week Toyota, General Motors and Fiat Chrysler announced that they would side with the Trump administration’s efforts to gut the Clean Car Standards AND revoke the authority of California and other states to set clean vehicle standards.

This is a terrible step in the wrong direction by these automakers. By siding with the Trump administration against building cleaner cars, Toyota, GM, Fiat Chrysler, and several other automakers have turned their backs on one of the easiest and quickest ways to address climate change and protect public health. 

CLICK HERE TO SUPPORT CLEANER CAR STANDARDS

IPL’s #FaithtoFord campaign helped convince Ford Motor Company to side with California and maintain their commitment to build cleaner cars. We know that auto companies are susceptible to public pressure, so let’s make sure the companies that refuse to consider climate and Creation hear from us. Like their past resistance to installing seat belts and catalytic converters, this refusal to build cleaner more efficient vehicles will be a shameful mark on these companies’ history. 

If the Trump administration, with the support of these automakers, succeeds in rolling back clean car standards, it could cost Americans $460 billion in gas at the pump in the coming years. That money goes directly into the pockets of Big Oil.

Perhaps this shouldn’t be surprising since GM and Fiat Chrysler ranked at the very bottom of the list of 13 automakers on both fuel efficiency and emissions. Toyota did better, ranking fifth from the bottom. But it was also the only manufacturer whose emissions record got worse during the EPA’s five-year study period.

We must reduce carbon pollution from automobiles – the transportation sector is the largest domestic source of global warming pollution in the U.S. and a major contributor to smog. The clean cars rollback is an immoral decision to put profits and politics over people and the health of our planet. It’s incredibly disappointing to see a segment of the auto industry supporting a Trump administration policy that costs drivers thousands at the pump while it also sets back efforts to address climate pollution and protect public health.

TELL TOYOTA, GM and FIAT CHRYSLER TO DO THE RIGHT THING

Let us make clear to Toyota, GM and Fiat Chrysler that we know what they’ve done and people of faith and conscience will not accept this immoral and indefensible move that harms our climate, people’s health, and all of Creation.

Thank you,

Bill Bradlee
National Organizing Director
Interfaith Power & Light