Interfaith Power & Light released the following statement in response to the Trump administration’s dangerous final rule rolling back the nation’s clean car standards and dismissing decades of law under the Clean Air Act, which allows states to adopt stronger tailpipe pollution limits to protect the health of their residents:
“As religious communities, we hold to the shared values of justice, equity, and stewardship of Creation,” said Rev. Susan Hendershot, president of Interfaith Power & Light. “People of faith have been speaking out for years supporting stronger clean car standards. The Trump
administration’s rollback, announced amid the COVID-19 public health emergency, is insensitive to the current crisis and is an unethical decision to put big oil and corporate polluters over the health and safety of our communities.”
Since the transportation sector is now the largest domestic source of the carbon pollution that contributes to climate change, this is of significant concern. Choosing to make less efficient vehicles isn’t just wasteful—it’s an issue of justice. Children, the elderly, those with pre-existing health conditions, low-income and black and brown communities are all suffering disproportionately from increased pollution and the impacts of climate change. The Trump administration’s decision to oppose states’ authority and cleaner cars is an immoral decision that moves us in the wrong direction.
Faith leaders from around the country call on the Trump administration to act with sound moral judgment and with justice, putting human health at the forefront of their decision-making processes and abandoning this effort to roll back these life-saving standards.