[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 14]
[Senate]
[Pages 20330-20331]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             CLIMATE CHANGE

  Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, I am here now for the 190th ``Time to 
Wake Up'' speech to talk about an issue that falls at the intersection 
of climate change and jobs and consumer power and protection. You would 
think that a policy that simultaneously reduces the carbon emissions 
responsible for climate change and boosts American industrial 
competitiveness and puts thousands of dollars back into the pockets of 
American consumers would be pretty universally popular. Unfortunately, 
you would be wrong.
  The corporate average fuel economy standards, known as the CAFE 
standards, set a minimum threshold for the average fuel economy of cars 
and light trucks that are sold in the United States. In 2011, the major 
automakers here in America--Ford, GM, and the others--enthusiastically 
endorsed voluntary new fuel efficiency standards which would gradually 
increase the fuel economy for their cars and light trucks to 54.5 miles 
per gallon on average by 2025.
  Think about that for a second. In 2011, average fuel economy for 
these vehicles was stuck below 30 miles per gallon. The CAFE standards 
hadn't budged in years, and as a result, our automakers had stopped 
innovating to make cars more fuel efficient. They didn't have to make 
them more fuel efficient. And when gas prices soared in the mid-2000s, 
it was consumers who were on the hook.
  Today, thanks to the voluntary agreement that was reached by the 
automakers, the CAFE standard is presently over 40 miles per gallon for 
cars and over 30 miles per gallon for light trucks. Consumers have 
already saved $42 billion at the pump because of those increased fuel 
economy standards. Consumers who purchase a new car in 2025, on 
average, will save about $8,000 on gas over the lifetime of that car 
because of those new fuel economy standards.
  Of course, it is not just the consumers who win under the new CAFE 
standards; the environment also wins. Already the American auto fleet's 
increased average fuel economy has resulted in 195 million fewer metric 
tons of carbon emissions, and, of course, with the carbon emissions 
come all the rest of the pollution out of a car's tailpipe, so it is a 
big environmental benefit. Over the life of the CAFE standards program, 
total carbon emissions reductions should total 6 billion metric tons. 
This is huge because transportation is now the largest source of carbon 
emissions in the United States, and carbon emissions from cars and 
light trucks account for almost one-sixth of the Nation's total.
  If we are to be successful in keeping the average global temperature 
increase under 2 degrees Celsius--the upper bound, beyond which 
scientists tell us the consequences of climate change will likely be 
irreversible--then we have to significantly reduce our auto emissions. 
That is the target of the Paris climate agreement, which is represented 
here in this graph, from business as usual here, to all of the carbon 
emissions savings and efficiencies necessary to reach our Paris goal 
right here. Of all of this--power sector, industrial sector, 
efficiencies, home sector--all of it--this gold wedge right here 
represents the piece of it that we achieve by meeting these CAFE 
standards. So it is pretty important to meet those standards if we are 
going to hit the Paris climate goals, and it is pretty important to hit 
the Paris climate goals if we don't want to condemn our children and 
grandchildren to a very hazardous future.
  Here is what is strange. The exact same set of industry players who 
voluntarily signed onto and supported the stronger fuel efficiency 
standards just 4 years ago through their trade association are now 
working hand in hand with EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt--when 
something bad is happening for the environment, you can almost always 
find him around--to weaken them, to undo what they voluntarily agreed 
to and promised the American people.
  Following the election of Donald Trump, the Auto Alliance--the trade 
group that represents automakers like Ford, General Motors, Toyota, and 
Volvo--claimed that the very same standards the automakers had 
voluntarily supported just a few years before now reflect what they 
call an ``extraordinary and premature rush to judgment.'' Shortly after 
Pruitt came into office, the Auto Alliance asked him to revisit the 
standard.
  By the way, just before I gave this speech, I googled ``Auto 
Alliance.'' I went to their website, and I hit the search engine on it. 
I typed in ``climate change'' and hit ``search.'' Those words ``climate 
change'' do not appear on the Auto Alliance's website, to give you an 
idea how seriously they take this problem, at least at the trade 
association level.
  So the Auto Alliance, when Pruitt came in, asked him to revisit this 
CAFE standard that their member companies had all agreed to. Pruitt, 
who, as Oklahoma's attorney general, had been notoriously compliant to 
industry, gladly complied.
  The Auto Alliance has a long history as the trailing edge of the 
automotive industry, opposing seat belts, opposing air bags, and 
opposing catalytic converters. Now, in the polluter-friendly Trump 
administration, it sees a tempting chance to sell more gas-guzzlers. 
But is that smart? Over the long term, does this risk actually consign 
American automakers to global irrelevance?
  We sell these cars in an international market, so let's look at what 
that international market is moving to. Countries around the world have 
realized that the future of the automobile lies not with the gasoline-
powered internal combustion engine but with alternative sources of 
power--electricity or hydrogen fuel cells, for instance.
  By the way, I just got a Chevrolet Bolt, the all-electric car. Not 
only is that good for the environment, it is a wonderful car to drive. 
It is a fun car to drive. It is great vehicle.
  China, the world's largest car market, recently announced that by 
2025, 20 percent of new cars sold there must run on alternative fuels, 
and it is on its way to an eventual total ban of the sale of gasoline 
and diesel-powered cars. That is where the biggest car market in the 
world is headed.
  The European Union is the world's third largest car market. The 
Netherlands has announced that starting in 2030, all cars sold must be 
emissions-free. Belgium is considering a similar measure. France and 
the United Kingdom will ban sales of new gasoline and diesel-powered 
cars starting in 2040. Norway, while not a member of the EU, is very 
much part of that European economy. They are even more ambitious. By 
2025--just over 7 years from now--all new cars sold in Norway must be 
emissions-free.
  Moving on to Japan, the world's fourth largest car market--Japan now 
has more electric charging stations than it has gas stations. India is 
the fifth largest car market. It has announced that by 2030, all new 
cars sold there must be electric or hybrid vehicles. So with the entire 
world moving toward cleaner, newer technology and innovative vehicles, 
why does this automotive lobby group--the Auto Alliance--suddenly want 
to renege on the promise its members made to the American people to 
raise and abide by those CAFE standards?
  We should hope that our business leaders would be honorable enough to 
keep their word. That is a fairly basic proposition. But if the future 
of the industry lies with ever more fuel-efficient cars--hybrids, 
electric cars, fuel cell cars--why would the auto industry in America 
be furiously lobbying the Trump administration to go backward? Breaking 
your word to go backward doesn't seem to make sense, even from a 
business point of view.
  Electric vehicles and alternative fuel vehicles represent the future 
of the auto industry. China and other countries get this. The Chinese 
are trying to poach our electrical engineers to develop their 
automotive industry so

[[Page 20331]]

that it can one day beat ours. Meanwhile, executives at our automakers 
are scheming with Pruitt to head back to the past, to get out of the 
promise that they made to build more innovative, fuel-efficient cars.
  Investing in the technologies of the future will help ensure that the 
electric vehicle revolution, which is on our doorstep, doesn't leave 
America behind, doesn't leave American innovators behind, doesn't leave 
American workers behind, and doesn't leave American automakers behind.
  A midterm review of these CAFE standards found that the automakers 
already have the technology to meet the new standard and that the new 
standard will save money for their customers. It is to the benefit of 
their customers to keep going with the CAFE standards they agreed to.
  An independent analysis by the nonprofit organization CERES found 
that the CAFE standards provide automakers and their suppliers the 
certainty they need to increase investment in the cleaner technologies 
that are necessary for the long-term health of the industry, and with 
that certainty that leads to increased investment, the increased 
investment leads to jobs.
  This ought to be a no-brainer. A policy that protects consumers and 
the environment while promoting innovation and making American 
companies more competitive for the global market should be something we 
can all agree on. But there is also a simpler, more old-fashioned 
principle at stake here: Keep your word.
  Ford, GM, and the others told the American public that they would 
compete for car buyers' business by delivering quality, energy-
efficient vehicles. That is what they told the American public, and 
they said it voluntarily. This wasn't forced down their throats through 
a regulatory proceeding; this was a voluntary agreement that they 
signed up for and were enthusiastic about at the time.
  They should keep their word. Why is that asking too much of American 
corporate leadership? Keep your word. How basic a principle is that? 
They should stop their trade association lobbying to water down the 
CAFE standards promises that they made.
  It is a recurring problem around here, as many of us have noticed, 
that the trade association is usually on the trailing edge of the 
industry; it is like the worst voice of the industry. That is surely 
the case here, where the trade association for our American automakers 
is trying to get them to set it up so they will break their word to the 
American people about a promise that they made--a very simple one, 
which the technology is already there to achieve.
  Even if you don't care one whit about climate change, even if you 
laugh that off, even if you go down the Trump road that it is a Chinese 
hoax, we still ought to be honoring those CAFE standards for American 
jobs, for American ingenuity, and for American innovation.
  Thank you.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Gardner). The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

                          ____________________