EDF, Allies Press for Transparency from Automakers Siding with Trump in Clean Car Litigation

(Washington, D.C. – November 12, 2019) EDF and other public interest groups are pressing for more transparency from the automakers who want to join a legal attack against states’ clean car authority.

The groups filed a brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit today opposing the Coalition for Sustainable Automotive Regulation (CSAR)’s motion to intervene in that legal attack. CSAR – which includes Toyota, General Motors and Fiat Chrysler – has asked to intervene in defense of the Trump Administration in ongoing litigation over state authority to reduce dangerous pollution from cars.

“State clean car authority was clearly established in the Clean Air Act, and state standards are one of the most important solutions we have to address the climate crisis, protect public health and our economy, and save families hard-earned money at the gas pump. The American people have a right to know who is supporting states’ efforts and who is joining the Trump administration in undermining them. Toyota, General Motors, and Fiat Chrysler have not complied with basic transparency requirements in seeking to join this litigation to undermine state clean car authority,” said EDF Attorney Alice Henderson.

CSAR is an ad hoc group formed for the specific purpose of intervening in the case as well as the parallel proceedings pending in federal district court. Court rules require groups like CSAR to disclose the names of all publicly-traded members. CSAR’s disclosure statement lists no member companies, in violation of the D.C. Circuit’s rules and in disregard of the transparency the court’s rules are designed to foster.

The move by CSAR – including Toyota, GM, and Chrysler – to participate in the case highlights a rift within the auto industry. Four other automakers – Ford, Honda, Volkswagen, and BMW – support states’ authority to protect their residents from dangerous auto pollution.

Today’s filing by EDF and its allies seeks to ensure that automakers who wish to participate in the litigation do so in compliance with court rules and with the most basic of disclosures so that the companies participating are known.