WASHINGTON, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that the U.S. government is revoking California's authority to set stricter auto emissions rules, a latest move that rolled back the country's environmental rules.
"The Trump Administration is revoking California's Federal Waiver on emissions in order to produce far less expensive cars for the consumer," Trump said in a tweet.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a waiver in 2013 that allowed the California state to set stricter air quality standards than those imposed on the federal level.
However, the new announcement asserted that only the federal government has the power to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said Tuesday that "federalism does not mean that one state can dictate standards for the nation."
The waiver pushed for higher standards nationwide, since carmakers tend to comply with a stricter standards for fear of losing a huge market. Thirteen other states and the Washington D.C. have adopted the California standards.
"By revoking that authority, the administration is eliminating a tool that is reducing emissions, improving vehicle mileage standards and saving consumers 460 billion U.S. dollars at the pump," said California Senator Dianne Feinstein in a statement.
Trump argued that the rollback could create "significantly more jobs," but automakers worried that without a substantial increase in fuel efficiency, their vehicles would be less competitive globally, which could potentially cause job losses.
The rollback came after the U.S. Department of Justice launched an antitrust investigation into major automakers that signed a deal with California on stricter vehicle emissions standards, in early September. "This investigation appears to be nothing more than a politically motivated act of intimidation to discourage additional automakers from joining the agreement," said Feinstein.
California governor Gavin Newsom called the administration's plan part of a "political vendetta" against the state. "We will fight this latest attempt and defend our clean car standards," said Newsom in a statement.
"Today's announcement by the Trump administration is a desperate move to buy time for an oil industry that's unable to compete with new, cleaner technologies," said Paul Cort, an attorney for the U.S. environmental group Earthjustice, in a statement.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said the state would take legal action against the rollback.
