New York [US], November 23: Three of the U.S. largest automakers, Ford, General Motors and Stellantis, are strategizing with other car manufacturers on how to make a delicate request of President-elect Donald J. Trump: don't scrap the federal regulations that compel the industry to sell electric vehicles (EV), reported The New York Times (NYT) on Thursday.
"The conversation would require diplomatic finesse," said the report. "Trump has railed against the EV rules, which strictly limit the amount of tailpipe pollution while also ramping up fuel economy standards. They are designed to get carmakers to produce more EVs and have been a cornerstone of President Biden's fight against climate change."
Trump has falsely said the rules amount to a Democratic mandate that would prevent Americans from buying the gasoline-powered cars of their choice, a concern of his campaign donors from the oil industry. And Trump still holds grievances against some of the automakers, whom he views as having betrayed him because during his first term they supported Obama-era auto emissions rules, according to the report.
"Lobbyists and officials from several car companies say the automakers want the Biden regulations to remain largely intact, with some changes such as more time for compliance and lower penalties for companies that don't meet the requirements," noted the report. One wild card is Elon Musk, whose Tesla accounts for half of electric vehicle sales in the United States.
Transportation is the sector of the U.S. economy that produces the most greenhouse gases, pollution that is dangerously heating the planet. The Obama administration was the first to limit tailpipe emissions of such pollution. During his first term, Trump effectively erased those rules, replacing them with standards that were little more than business as usual, it added.
Source: Xinhua News Agency