Washington, D.C.–  Ahead of Senate votes on Republicans’ illegitimate Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolutions that seek to eliminate the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) state preemption waivers for California’s tailpipe pollution limits – Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT), Advanced Clean Cars II (ACC II), and Heavy-Duty Vehicle Omnibus (HDO) rules – the League of Conservation Voters and Chispa released the following statements:

“This attempt by Republicans to push through illegitimate power grabs will benefit Big Oil CEOs, while repealing state protections that make vehicles cheaper and cleaner,” said League of Conservation Voters Vice President of Federal Policy Matthew Davis. “This should not be a political or partisan issue, it’s about states’ ability to set standards that deliver cleaner air for their citizens. For nearly 50 years, both Republican and Democratic administrations have followed the Clean Air Act to affirm California’s ability to do more to protect their residents from air pollution because of the state’s unique air quality problems.

“Cleaning up cars and trucks is essential to cleaning up our air and reducing associated health problems like asthma and mitigating climate change. These votes also risk billions of dollars of investments in hundreds of job-creating factories and will raise costs for consumers by eliminating these crucial clean car standards and raise prices at the pump. If the Senate wants to protect our air, our jobs, our health and our environment, they must oppose these illegitimate CRAs.”

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“Nothing is more fundamental to our health than clean air. Once again, polluters are getting their way in Washington, and our families will pay the price. Eliminating clean cars and truck waivers is undermining cleaner vehicle standards that are an option for states to reduce truck and bus pollution in their communities. Congressional Republicans want to undo decades of clean air progress just to help their Big Oil backers, while also removing crucial funding for programs that benefit all communities across the country, including the Clean School Bus program, Medicaid, and food assistance programs,” said Chispa Senior Director Estefany Carrasco-González. “Our Latine communities have a lot to lose. According to the American Lung Association’s recent “State of the Air” report, we are more likely to live in polluted areas. Some places with the most polluted air in the country are where Chispa has been organizing to protect our families: Phoenix, Reno, Denver, and Coastal Texas. Higher air pollution means more children suffering asthma attacks and missing school, parents missing work, more grandparents dying prematurely, and more death and destruction from extreme weather. We can’t keep paying more to breathe dirty air. Our health, environment, and livelihoods cannot afford it.”

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