White House Strikes Climate Change Language from Vehicle Emissions Proposal

White House Strikes Climate Change Language from Vehicle Emissions Proposal

On October 1, 2019, The Hill reported that E&E News had obtained a document that shows that the White House deliberately deleted language about climate change from a proposal that limits California’s ability to set tougher vehicle emissions standards.

In September 2019, President Trump announced that he was revoking the waiver that California has used for more than 50 years to require tougher emissions standards (thirteen other states also use the California standards.)

The draft of the proposal document obtained by E&E News shows that the White House struck out the phrase “while global climate change is a serious challenge” before explaining why California should not be allowed to set stricter emissions standards than the federal government. The draft of the document also showed that the White House had removed a reference to the Fourth National Climate Assessment which presents a harsh picture of the future impact of climate change.

The White House did not respond to request for comment.