General Motors, Toyota and Fiat Chrysler have joined forces with President Donald Trump to block California’s attempt to set its own automotive pollution standards, automakers said in a statement.
“We have an obligation to intervene, because our industry runs the risk of facing multiple, overlapping and inconsistent standards, which would raise costs and penalize our consumers,” said John Bozzella, spokesman for this coalition of manufacturers, quoted in a statement. .
The automakers announced on Monday that they launched a lawsuit to support the Republican administration of President Trump, who decided on September 18 to move to California, governed by the Democrats, the right to set their own pollution standards. car.
However, other manufacturers, including Ford, Honda and Volkswagen , which announced an agreement with California to voluntarily reduce greenhouse gas emissions from their vehicles at the end of July , are not part of this demand, the US newspaper continues.
The lawsuit against these manufacturers against California was harshly criticized by Democratic Senator Tom Carper: ” Instead of choosing the responsible road set by four car manufacturers and the state of California, a road that will take us to the cleanest vehicles of the future. , these companies have chosen to embark on a dead end, “he said on his Twitter account.
“By aligning with the irresponsible and illegal proposal of this administration, these companies actively challenge the right of states to set their own emission standards and face the climate crisis,” he said.
Finally, he stressed that the position of Fiat Chrysler, General Motors and Toyota will harm “in the long term of these companies and will be detrimental to their workers, their shareholders and our planet.”
California, which is at the forefront of the fight against climate change , has almost systematically challenged the measures taken by Donald Trump, a climate skeptic who withdrew the United States from the Paris climate agreement .
“We cannot afford to step back in our fight against climate change,” California Attorney General Xavier Becerra responded on September 18 to the announcement of Donald Trump. He later added on Twitter that “California began to regulate its air because pollution was so important that some people wore gas masks abroad.”