Politics

Rioting in the streets is the sword of Damocles hanging over every decision a politician makes—especially when those streets happen to be French. And rioting in the streets is what put an end to a new gas-tax proposal in France this week. Technically, its wasn't even a straight gas tax. DON'T...

The Trump administration plans to end tax credits for plug-in cars. The EPA released official range and efficiency estimates for the Tesla Model 3 Mid Range. The long range Nissan Leaf is a no-show at the 2018 LA Auto Show—now we hear why. And we ask what should happen with the Chevrolet...

As tax credits begin to expire for some automakers and the electric-car industry begins to lobby to extend them, the Trump administration plans to end them altogether. President Donald Trump's Chief Economic Adviser Larry Kudlow told Reuters that the administration plans to end the $7,500 federal...

Members of the lame-duck Congress all got letters on their desks Tuesday stating why the electric-car tax credit should be revised and extended. Along with a five-point fact sheet made public Tuesday, the effort is the first salvo in a battle by the newly-formed EV Drive Coalition to extend the...

After General Motors announced on Monday that it will kill the Chevy Volt as part of an effort to streamline its lineup, close five factories, and lay off 15 percent of its workers, President Trump took to Twitter to vow retaliation for the damage the layoffs could do to the U.S. economy. "The U.S...

Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy and state attorneys general from California and Maryland said Friday that they will vigorously fight proposed rollbacks by the EPA to federal emissions standards ahead of public hearings scheduled for next week. "We’re not interested in taking a punch. We want...

Only 29 percent of new-car shoppers say they agree with rollbacks to federal fuel-economy standards proposed by the Trump administration, Autolist reported Tuesday. The survey asked more than 1,100 new-car shoppers if they agreed with the proposed plan to freeze federal emissions standards at 2020...

Last week the Trump administration unveiled a broad drawdown of fuel-economy regulations that had been aimed at cutting emissions from passenger vehicles. In the 978-page proposal, administration officials argued those rules implemented by the Obama administration would create lighter, potentially...

Sixteen states joined an effort this week to petition courts to review a rollback of an Obama-era regulation that capped the number of "glider" trucks, Transport Topics reported. Glider trucks are new bodies fitted with older diesel engines that predate emissions controls. Those trucks can emit up...

Following a public spat over climate change legislation, oil giant ExxonMobil has pulled its membership from the Koch brothers-backed anti-climate-change lobbying group, American Legislative Exchange Council. Neither ExxonMobil nor ALEC has commented publicly on the reasons for the company's...

The retirement of Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy announced on Wednesday could have dramatic and detrimental effects on environmental quality. Since the retirement of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor in 2006, Kennedy has been a pivotal vote on the court, siding with the majority on at least two...

EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt left little to chance in trying to make the agency more friendly to the oil industry after he took office last year, according to new emails revealed in a report by Buzzfeed News. The Sierra Club obtained the emails through a Freedom of Information Act request and...

The EPA's Science Advisory Board, tasked with agency oversight, is taking issue with at least three of EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt's signature decisions. First, according to a Bloomberg report, is Pruitt's decision to freeze fuel economy standards and eliminate increases that had been approved...

Cars that get good gas mileage aren't unsafe. In fact, gas savings have more than paid for safety improvements in modern cars, as well as for the technology needed to make the gains in fuel economy.

Averting a showdown between 17 states and the federal government may take priority over industry-friendly fuel-economy targets. At least, that's what they're saying. Reports leading up to a May 11 meeting between leaders of America's automotive industry and President Donald Trump indicate that...

To address a sudden loss of power, some Chevrolet Bolt EVs get new battery packs. We explain why. Subaru files for a trademark on a new name for its upcoming plug-in hybrid. Volkswagen releases fuel economy figures for its new Jetta. And we ask: "When will buying gasoline cars seem weird?" All this...

According to a new editorial by the Sierra Club, 17 states have now instituted new fees on electric cars—fees that other car owners don't have to pay—to try to recoup some of the money that electric-car drivers don't pay in gas taxes.

As promised, the Trump administration has embarked on regulatory rollbacks across many fronts, some immediate and others taking longer. It remains unclear whether the EPA's plan to loosen carbon-dioxide emission limits for 2022 through 2025 vehicles will survive inevitable court challenges...

Over the many months EPA administrator Scott Pruitt signaled his intention to revisit the Obama administration's emission limits for 2022 through 2025 vehicles, California warned that it would not go along with any reductions. The state has been allowed to set its own emission standards for...

Journalism as an industry is under great pressure these days. There are far more people writing "content" than in past decades, and in general they are having to produce more of it for less money than they did 10, 20, or 50 years ago. That's no excuse, however, for getting the basics wrong. DON'T...