Tyrant Trump Terrorizes Car Company Execs With Emissions Rollback Threats
Credit to Author: Steve Hanley| Date: Mon, 26 Aug 2019 15:40:54 +0000
Published on August 26th, 2019 | by Steve Hanley
August 26th, 2019 by Steve Hanley
The alleged President of the United States is reportedly enraged that several car companies have reached an agreement with the state of California that would preserve most of the auto emissions reduction plan promulgated by President Obama. Recently he commanded executives from 3 major US car companies to come to the White House so he could bludgeon them into supporting his proposal to roll back that plan.
Image courtesy US EPA ()
That should come as no surprise. The puling potentate of Pennsylvania Avenue is enraged by Jews who vote for Democrats, Iran, NATO, the European Union, members of Congress who dare to be women and/or Muslims, and American companies who have the temerity to manufacture products in China.
The only people he is not enraged by are Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-Un, both of whom are actual threats to America. Being enraged is his hallmark, as the so-called leader of the free world does his best to imitate the antics of a two year old with a full diaper.
What is the un-president so afraid of? The Honda CR-V sport utility vehicle on sale today meets all of the requirements of the Obama-era regulations — 5 years early. Yet current government officials claim those same regulations are forcing car companies to make cars that cost too much money, a mantra championed by the Koch Brothers in an effort to keep Americans dependent on the gasoline they make.
Ford, Volkswagen, Honda, and BMW have concluded their own separate peace with California recently. Mercedes Benz has indicated it is considering throwing its lot in with them as well. And according to the New York Times, one of the three who attended the White House meeting says privately it may ignore the president’s entreaties and join them as well. Mike Manley, Fiat Chrysler’s chief executive, said of the California pact recently, “We are absolutely going to have a look at it and see what it means.”
“I don’t think there is any precedent for a major industry to say, ‘We are prepared to have a stronger regulation,’ and to have the White House say, ‘No, we know better,’” William K. Reilly, who headed the EPA in the George H. W. Bush administration, tells the Times.
Part of the reason why the companies are reluctant to go along is they are scared to death this is all going to wind up in the courts, which would create years of uncertainty. It takes up to 5 years to plan new cars, set up supply chains, and reconfigure factories. A stable regulatory climate is required to make that process go smoothly.
Another reason is that if American companies build last century cars, they risk being noncompetitive in other world markets where proposals to eliminate gasoline and diesel powered cars are gaining strength.
The Dictator In Chief cares little about such practical considerations, of course. His mission in life is to destroy everything Obama did and by God he is going to do just that or die trying. But that one-sided mania has caused many of those in the White House needed to implement his insane desires to quit. Another senior staffer who was working on the rollback has been moved to other duties.
The White House claims those defections are irrelevant. It has now put Francis Brooke, a 29-year-old White House aide with limited experience in climate change policy, in charge of the rollback. Brooke moved into the position after serving on the staff of vice-president Mike Pence, the mole inside the White House most responsible for pushing the Koch Brothers’ agenda behind the scenes. The rollback plan was supposed to be completed last spring, but people working on it tell the Times the lack of experienced senior staff members means it is unlikely to be completed before October.
Meanwhile, virtually all the car companies doing business in the US have come to an agreement with the state of Colorado that keeps the Obama plan intact but rolls back the date for full compliance by a year.
One of the primary concerns of the Lunatic In Chief in his desire to strip California of its ability to set a higher emissions goal than the federal standard has nothing to do with policy and everything to do with punishing California for refusing to knuckle under to the federal government’s weaponized immigration policies and its penchant for electing Democrats. In TrumpWorld, unswerving obedience is far more important than acting rationally.Little Donnie must have had a very unhappy childhood.
Over at the EPA and the Department of Transportation, the two agencies responsible for making the actual fuel economy standards, minions are beavering away on creating charts and graphs intended to convince a court that the rollback is based on science rather than the irrational fantasies of a delusional demagogue. Good luck with that. The Obama administration knew precisely what the legal standards are when a government policy is subjected to judicial review and they made damned sure to cross every T and dot every I.
What today’s staffers are doing amounts to little more than painting the roses red before the Queen — played by L’il Donnie Trump — comes along and bellows “Off With Their Heads!”
Steve Hanley Steve writes about the interface between technology and sustainability from his home in Rhode Island and anywhere else the Singularity may lead him. His motto is, “Life is not measured by how many breaths we take but by the number of moments that take our breath away!” You can follow him on Google + and on Twitter.