Trump NHTSA might reduce emission rules for two-thirds of U.S. vehicles

2017 Ram 1500 Rebel Blue StreakConsumers all over the world, but especially in North America, are buying more crossover utility vehicles and fewer passenger sedans and hatchbacks. The U.S. auto industry makes the bulk of its profits on light trucks, which include crossovers, pickup trucks, and even minivans. The Trump Administration has said it wants to roll back environmental...

Senate panel rejects clean-energy cuts, boosts DoE funding instead

Offshore wind farmThe Senate Committee on Appropriations recently exhibited a quality somewhat rare in U.S. politics these days: bipartisanship. The committee released a lengthy report on the 2018 fiscal year budget for the Department of Energy that walks away from the Trump Administration's efforts to defund clean energy. In fact, the committee voted on a...

Carmaker lobbyist urges fuel-economy deal that keeps CAFE requirements

Gas pumpAutomakers have united behind a somewhat surprising position: reviews of corporate average fuel economy rules should not involve scrapping the current standards. The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, a lobbying group that represents automakers building cars in the U.S., has asked the Trump administration to solidify a deal that keeps higher...

EPA museum may axe climate-change display, add one on coal

International Paper Company mill, 1973 [From EPA Documerica series]The museum at the Environmental Protection Agency may soon be in for an overhaul to reflect the agenda of the Trump administration. It's no secret Scott Pruitt, current EPA administrator and climate-science denier, has worked to deregulate many of the agency's regulatory efforts to promote fossil fuels. That's part of Trump's campaign promise to...

U.S. government climate scientists restricted, sidelined, limited

The White House, Washington, D.C.  [Creative Commons license by dcjohn]Months into Donald Trump's presidency, it is clear the administration has worked diligently to downplay the role of science in setting policy on energy. Some moves to diminish scientists' roles have been more evident than others, but a new report details what has gone on behind the scenes. In summary, scientists have been restricted, sidelined...

Propaganda video claiming ‘dirty electric cars’ debunked

Tesla Model S at Supercharger site in Ventura, CA, with just one slot open  [photo: David Noland]For years, electric-car skeptics raised concerns about what was cleverly dubbed "The Coal Tailpipe": the idea that plug-in vehicles produced just as many harmful emissions as gasoline cars, but in a different place. That's not remotely true for carbon dioxide, as multiple studies over the years have shown, though it is in limited cases for a small...

NHTSA to review gas-mileage rules, could freeze 2021 levels for later years

Gas pumpThe U.S. Department of Transportation said yesterday the NHTSA is preparing to revise corporate average fuel economy requirements for model years 2022 through 2025. The proposed version of those regulations, which was issued by the Obama Administration in 2012, included steady increases for each of those model years. Among the alternatives that...

What Trump’s ‘Energy Week’ policies actually mean

Donald TrumpThe White House declared this past week "Energy Week" and offered up a few key points on which the Trump administration plans to focus to unleash what it calls a new American dominance in energy. However, neither the initiatives nor the proposed policy changes hone in on where the world is heading: renewable energy, free of fossil fuels. Instead...

Montana solar-power law rigging caught on live video, regrettably

Photovoltaic solar power field at Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, TennesseeThe U.S. is coming up to its Independence Day holiday, in which we celebrate the Declaration of Independence from England and reflect on our history and traditions as a nation. This is an interesting time to do that, and there's a cynical argument to be made that backroom politics is as American as apple pie and bald eagles. Which brings us to the...

Electric-car noise rules to be canceled under Trump deregulation plan?

Chevrolet Bolt EV self-driving prototypeModern electric cars have been on U.S. roads for seven years or so, and owners love their smooth, quiet, close to noise-free operation. That silence has been a bone of contention for even longer, however, since hybrids operating purely on battery power are similarly quiet. For years, the U.S. Department of Transportation was charged with drafting...

States have a battle plan if Trump rolls back fuel-economy, emission rules

Gas pumpThe Trump Administration has had a challenging start on numerous fronts, but its work to slash emission rules and eliminate regulations continues. The EPA administrator, climate-science denier Scott Pruitt, has said he isn't "currently" planning to target target California's ability to set its own emission rules. In March, the agency previously...

Trump EPA backs away from attacking California emission waiver

Golden Gate Bridge, connecting San Francisco and Marin County, CaliforniaSometime between March 1 and 7, a specific page vanished from the website of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Amidst coverage of the removal of the word "science" from the mission statement of the EPA's Science and Technology Office, it went largely unnoticed. First posted in December 2008, and modified several times over the next eight...

Texas restores $2,500 electric-car purchase rebate, except for Teslas

Tesla owners & supporters gather in Statehouse in Austin to support company [photo: John Griswell]Ah, Texas, the state that was formerly a nation and continues to do things slightly differently. Its politics is bare-knuckle, its hats are big, and so are its ranches. It also generates more renewable wind energy than any other state in the union. Its auto-dealer lobbyists, however, are equally large and powerful. DON'T MISS: Tesla Loses Legal...

California joins Germany in climate coalition to support Paris pact

California state capitol, SacramentoThe 50 states that make up the U.S. don't get to set their own foreign policies (neither do Canadian provinces). But that doesn't necessarily prevent them from working with other countries on matters of mutual interest. And that's just what California is doing in an agreement announced this weekend that expands its efforts to battle climate change...

How much would relaxing U.S. fuel-economy rules matter? Poll results

Gas pumpOne of the earliest acts of the Trump Administration was to announce that it would re-examine emission rules finalized by the EPA in the waning days of the Obama Administration. Making good on that promise, EPA administrator (and climate-science denier) Scott Pruitt reopened the commenting period on tailpipe-emission limits of carbon dioxide...

Bill in NY legislature would let Tesla quadruple store locations in state

Tesla Store Los Angeles [photo: Misha Bruk / MBH Architects]Tesla's five New York state stores could increase four-fold should a new piece of legislation pass the state legislature. The bill calls for an increase "certificates of registration for entities that manufacture or assemble zero-emissions vehicles." In turn, it would "authorize 20 certificates with at least five to be located in certain upstate...