Preserving Choice in Vehicle Purchases Act
Floor Speech
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Ms. MATSUI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak in opposition to H.R. 1435.
California has long been a global leader in the fight against air pollution. Whether it is greenhouse gases, smog, or other harmful pollutants, California has often been the first State to protect our citizens from the terrible health impacts of dirty air.
You get a lot of criticism when you are a leader, and Californians are no strangers to criticism. Time and again, that criticism fades as the rest of the country, and often other countries, see the benefits of California's emissions policies.
In 1966, California established the first tailpipe emissions standard in the Nation. The country soon followed with the Clean Air Act of 1970, which created the EPA, and established the first national air pollution standards.
The Clean Air Act also recognized California's leadership by explicitly affirming California's authority to set more stringent emission standards.
Thanks to that authority, California continued to lead the fight against air pollution and adopted the first NO
In 2004, California adopted the first greenhouse gas pollution standards for vehicles. The EPA followed in 2010 with the first national standards for greenhouse gas pollution from vehicles.
Now, the impacts of climate change, caused by fossil fuel pollution, are becoming more numerous and deadlier. More frequent and more intense floods, hurricanes, wildfires, and heat waves threaten to make our communities unlivable.
This bill, however, enshrines the internal combustion engine in the Clean Air Act. We are leading the Nation with cutting-edge vehicle emission standards that will reduce greenhouse gas pollutants and lead the world in the fight against climate change. This bill is a love letter to Big Oil, legally mandating that Americans think first of the internal combustion engine before considering air quality or public health.
We have a chance to stop climate change before it is too late, but this bill would keep dirty gas and diesel cars on the road forever, dooming our children to face the worst impacts of climate change.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on H.R. 1435.
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