President Trump and Congress are rolling back clean car standards that protect our air and our health. Photo: Orlando Stocker via Shutterstock
June 12, 2025 (Boston, MA) – President Trump has signed Congress’ decision to slam the brakes on state authority to cut tailpipe pollution. Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) released the following statement in response:
“These standards gave states the ability to protect their people – but the Trump administration just ripped that away from us,” said Emily K. Green, CLF director of clean mobility. “As a parent, I think about my daughter and all the children across the country who will suffer from worse toxic tailpipe fumes because of this decision. Fumes that cause asthma, heart disease, and overheat the planet. Gutting the standards only helps Big Oil and Gas. It’s a slap in the face for almost everyone else wanting a safer and healthier future.”
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has granted California waivers for stronger tailpipe pollution standards than those of the federal government for decades. Other states, including Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Vermont, have followed suit and continue to have California’s clean car and truck standards as part of their own laws. Trump just signed off on Congress’s votes to revoke three of California’s Clean Air Act waivers under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) despite the Senate Parliamentarian and House’s Government Accountability Office’s determinations that doing so would violate the law.
California has sued the federal government challenging the actions. Attorneys general from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, and other states joined the suit.
Transportation is the largest source of carbon pollution in New England. Harmful exhaust from tailpipes causes asthma and other health problems, especially in low-income neighborhoods and communities of color. Switching from gas-powered cars to electric vehicles cuts the pollution that endangers health and fuels climate change.
According to the American Lung Association, a national switch to clean cars by 2035 as envisioned under the clean cars standards could prevent almost 90,000 premature deaths, 2.2 million asthma attacks, 10.7 million lost days of work, and $978 billion in cumulative public health costs by 2050.
CLF experts are available for further comment.
###