GM dumps Trump. Top automaker sides with California in major shift on climate change
America’s largest automaker, in a dramatic break with the Trump administration, declared Monday it would side with California in a fierce battle over climate change, tailpipe emissions and fuel economy.
General Motors Corp. announced it will drop out of litigation between California and the Trump administration over rules governing greenhouse gas emissions from cars.
The decision reflects former Vice President Joe Biden’s victory over President Donald Trump — and the considerable clout California will wield in the new administration over environmental matters. Mary Nichols, chairwoman of the California Air Resources Board, is reportedly among the top candidates for administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
“We believe the ambitious electrification goals of the President-elect, California, and General Motors are aligned to address climate change by drastically reducing automobile emissions,” GM Chief Executive Marry Barra wrote in a letter to environmental groups that have been fighting the automaker in court.
“We are confident that the Biden Administration, California, and the U.S. auto industry, which supports 10.3 million jobs, can collaboratively find the pathway that will deliver an all-electric future. To better foster the necessary dialogue, we are immediately withdrawing from the preemption litigation and inviting other automakers to join us.”
The EPA responded to GM’s move on Monday with a short statement. “It’s always interesting to see the changing positions of U.S. corporations,” James Hewitt, spokesman for the EPA, told McClatchy.
But others in the administration saw a calculated motive behind GM’s announcement, which came within minutes of a report in the Wall Street Journal on the auto giant agreeing to recall nearly 6 million vehicles with potentially faulty air-bag inflators.
Biden, in a statement issued by his transition team, said GM’s decision “to work with the Biden-Harris Administration and California to advance these goals demonstrates a promising path forward for how industry, labor, government and environmental organizations can come together to tackle big problems.”
How Ford, VW, Honda, BMW and Volvo sided
Gov. Gavin Newsom applauded GM’s decision, too.
“GM’s acknowledgment of the reality that the future is zero emissions is further confirmation that it is time to move toward clean cars,” the governor said in a prepared statement. He said he urges all automakers “to stand with California on developing zero emission vehicles that are right for the health of our state, our economy and our communities.”
The fight involves rules, developed by the California air board and the EPA during the Obama administration, that require automakers to slash carbon emissions by around 30% by 2025. The move effectively requires them to raise the average fuel economy by about 30% as well, to around 50 miles per gallon.
After Trump toured a GM plant in Michigan with Barra, his administration substituted a far gentler set of requirements. And it went a step further by revoking California’s unique authority to impose stricter carbon rules than the federal government. That has imperiled California’s ambitious “clean car” program, which forces automakers to sell hybrids and all-electric vehicles in the state in increasing numbers.
Trump’s move generated multiple lawsuits and split the auto industry. Five automakers — Ford, Volkswagen, Honda, BMW and Volvo — cut a deal with Nichols and Newsom to follow a slightly weakened version of the original Obama rules.
Other automakers, including GM, sided with Trump in the litigation over the legality of Trump’s decision — one of more than 100 lawsuits involving California and the White House over immigration, education, health care and other issues. That alliance between the carmakers and the White House has now been severely weakened with GM’s defection.
GM’s decision reflects the reality that Biden’s administration will likely rescind Trump’s decision and write new rules on tailpipe emissions and fuel economy. It’s also a recognition “that California is going to be an important player in those conversations,” said Julia Stein, a climate-law expert at UCLA.
This story was originally published November 23, 2020 at 11:51 AM with the headline "GM dumps Trump. Top automaker sides with California in major shift on climate change."