Activists to Ford: Dump Trump, Protect Consumers
Sept. 17, 2018
MEDIA ADVISORY
Activists to Ford: Dump Trump, Protect Consumers
As Ford CEO Arrives in Columbus to Address Midwestern Governors, Consumer and Environmental Advocates Take to the Scioto River to Call Out the Company’s Harmful Lobbying
WHAT: As the Trump administration races to undo the country’s clean car standards at the behest of automakers, activists will take to the Scioto River to call attention to the dangerous rollback. With Ford Motor Company CEO Jim Hackett’s keynote speech at the Midwestern Governors Association as the backdrop, consumer and environmental advocates will protest the company’s efforts to pad its coffers at the expense of consumers and their health.
The event, which will feature activists floating a raft bearing a message for Ford, is organized by several groups in the Forward Not Backward Coalition, including Public Citizen, Sierra Club and Safe Climate Campaign. Madeline Page, clean cars campaign coordinator for Public Citizen, will be on the river bank and will be available to talk to reporters.
WHEN: 1-3 p.m. EDT Wednesday, Sept. 19
WHERE: Scioto River at Genoa Park/COSI 76 Washington Blvd. Columbus, Ohio
Background: In January 2017, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) concluded that America’s clean car standards are working and achievable. Yet, at the behest of Ford and other automakers, without any change in the facts, then-EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt reversed the decision in April, ignoring the thousands of hours of research and analysis that support keeping the standards. Last month, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the EPA released a notice of proposed rulemaking that would freeze the standards at 2020 levels and revoke the California waiver, which allows that state and 12 others to protect their citizens from harmful tailpipe pollution.
Despite helping craft the greenhouse gas emissions and fuel economy standards, automakers have pushed to roll them back since Trump’s election. Ford and other automakers have attacked the standards at every turn – recently using their trade association to provide regulatory comments to NHTSA that cast doubt on climate science and the link between air pollution and adverse health impacts. Ford has claimed to be good on the climate even while executives have met with administration officials about weakening the standards.
If the standards remain strong, consumers will continue to save billions at the pump, and more than 6 billion metric tons of dangerous climate pollution will be avoided.
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