Report: Trump EPA plans to cancel California emissions waiver

Smog over Los Angeles, courtesy Flickr user steven-bussThe EPA is planning to cancel the special waiver that California has relied on since 1970 to set its own emissions standards, according to a Bloomberg report. As part of its plan to reverse a program to steadily tighten fuel economy standards that it coordinates with California and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the EPA has...

2011 Volkswagen Jetta TDI SportWagen driven: Fixed, but does it matter?

Brown 2011 Volkswagen TDI Sportwagen listed for sale after emissions repairsThe gentle rumble under the brown station wagon’s hood brings back memories of not too long ago as I sneak its 6-speed manual through the gears. So, too, the way it accelerates down a highway on-ramp—like warm maple syrup, the brown wagon moves substantially with just enough verve. From the driver’s seat of this 2011 VW Golf TDI...

California and 16 states sue EPA over emissions rules

Smog over Los Angeles, courtesy Flickr user steven-bussCalifornia, along with 16 other states and the District of Columbia, have formally launched a long-anticipated lawsuit against EPA over its proposed rollback of emissions rules for 2022 through 2025, according to a new report in the Washington Post. The suit was filed last month in the D.C federal appeals court in response to EPA Administrator...

Deal between EPA, California on auto emissions may still be possible

National Plug-In Day 2012: San Francisco, with 60 Nissan Leafs in front of the Golden Gate BridgeOver the many months EPA administrator Scott Pruitt signaled his intention to revisit the Obama administration's emission limits for 2022 through 2025 vehicles, California warned that it would not go along with any reductions. The state has been allowed to set its own emission standards for decades, it noted, and it has every intention of sticking...

EPA does not set fuel-economy limits: get this right, journalists!

Gas pumpJournalism as an industry is under great pressure these days. There are far more people writing "content" than in past decades, and in general they are having to produce more of it for less money than they did 10, 20, or 50 years ago. That's no excuse, however, for getting the basics wrong. DON'T MISS: Hey, media, get it straight: "electrified" is...

Pruitt’s EPA emission rollback reasoning may well fail in court

EPA administrator Scott Pruitt  [photo from 2014]Despite the sturm und drang around the announcement by embattled EPA chief Scott Pruitt that he will relax emission limits for 2022 through 2025 vehicles, not much will happen immediately. His determination last week that the Obama administration was "incorrect" and that the limits on those vehicles weren't needed kicks off a lengthy process of...