A coalition of environmental and consumer advocates says Ford Motor Company and other automakers are lobbying the Trump administration to roll back fuel economy and greenhouse gas emissions standards known as clean car standards, and they should stop.
The coalition includes Public Citizen, Sierra Club, and Greenpeace USA.
The groups said they are delivering more than a quarter-million petition signatures today to Ford at its world headquarters in Dearborn, calling on Ford and other automakers to stop efforts they say the companies are making to reverse the clean car standards the companies had previously supported.
The activists said the petitions were driven from Washington, D.C. to Michigan in a 2006 Ford Focus, dubbed "Dirty Ford," and retrofitted with a black cloud meant to look like pollution suspended over its roof and painted with dollar bills spewing from the gas tank.
The advocates said weakening clean car standards will harm people's health and mean drivers pay more at the pump.
"For Americans and families that live near roadways, that means more pollution, and then for all of us on the planet, it means exacerbating climate change," said Madeline Page, clean cars campaign coordinator for Public Citizen.
In a written statement, Ford said, "We continue to support increasing clean car standards through 2025 and are not asking for a rollback. Importantly, we want one set of standards nationally, along with additional flexibility to help us provide more affordable options for our customers."
