The Environmental Protection Agency’s comment period for its dangerous proposal to attack climate protections, including federal vehicle pollution standards, has come to an end.
The Sierra Club was an active part of a large coalition—and hundreds of thousands of people across the country-that spoke out against the Trump EPA's proposal and in favor of protecting our current standards for cars and trucks.
- We showed up with dozens of testifiers for a four-day hearing (that was originally scheduled for just one day but had to be extended due to sign-ups!)
- We contributed almost 23k signatures to the coalition’s overarching 225k
- We co-led a sign-on letter with GreenLatinos that 100+ organizations joined
- We spoke out in the media and had a national op-ed published in The Hill from Clean Transportation for All Director Katherine García
- We took over E&E’s Climatewire newsletter with a weeklong ad campaign that told the EPA to do its job
And we showed up in person in Motor City, a city particularly threatened by the Trump administration’s anti-EV actions, to protest the EPA’s proposal. On Sept. 19, the Friday before the Sept. 22 comment deadline, we attended a press conference in Detroit where local elected officials, advocates, and business owners gathered to demand that the EPA protect the clean vehicle pollution standards.
From left to right: Sam Shapiro, Founder and CEO of Grounded RVs and Finn the Dog, part of the imaginary Detroit Dogs Care Alliance; Dr. Latressa Gordon, ANHE and Director of Programs at Michigan United; State Sen. Stephanie Chang, Senate District 03; Alan Hejl, Founder and lead Accessibility Consultant at Spark Access; Sarah Hoogterp, Project Manager at Southwest Detroit Environmental Vision
Speakers highlighted how Detroit stands to lose significant momentum for resolving some of the worst in the nation particle pollution in the air. Attendees heard about how the rollback would threaten children's and residents’ health and well-being through both toxic air pollution and from the impacts of the worsening climate crisis. One speaker spoke about having to cancel camping trips due to summer wildfire smoke, once a rarity in the Midwest, threatening their toddler’s lung development.
Each community leader touched on the importance of preserving the standards to protect the long-term validity of the city's economic comeback, as the standards help protect long-term investments in domestic electric vehicle manufacturing. That means good-paying jobs and community revitalization for Detroit.
And it’s clear that the community, and not just the event speakers, know what the EPA’s proposed rollbacks mean for their communities. Shortly after the event, Eric overheard a conversation between two old friends over lunch at the table next to me. Fittingly enough, they were talking about Stellantis’ recent investments in the city, and what they meant for the community at large. One friend even highlighted what Stellantis’s announcement last year to open new plants for EV battery production meant for the long-term comeback of the Motor City’s residents, community, and their wealth and wellbeing. And he expressed concern about what the Trump administration meant for this momentum and progress. Their conversation could have been the press conference.
As the event’s speakers, and two friends at lunch, made clear: Detroit’s communities need cleaner air now. And as the vehicle manufacturing hub of America and the world, the strategies that get us there mean so much more. Especially in Detroit, where the rubber can, and should, meet the road for electrifying vehicles.
