Automobiles

Environmental groups say the low-sulfur gasoline and vehicle emissions rules are vital tools to reduce smog.

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An array of automakers and their lobbying groups are pressing the Obama administration to issue low-sulfur gasoline rules that face resistance from oil industry officials who call them costly and unneeded.

Auto industry representatives met with White House Office of Management and Budget aides on March 22, where they offered backing for the Environmental Protection Agency’s planned “Tier 3” fuel and vehicle emissions rule.

Two trade groups — the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, and Global Automakers — along with representatives from Toyota, Chrysler, Honda, Volkswagen, Mercedes and others, participated, according to the online meeting record.

A joint presentation from the trade groups for the meeting calls the rules “critically important,” argues they will provide public health benefits, and calls them necessary for harmonization with California’s emissions rules.

Environmentalists are unhappy with Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R)’s decision to retain a tax on hybrid vehicles in a transportation funding plan for the state.

McDonnell reduced the amount of the tax from $100 per year to $64, his office announced on Tuesday.

But the Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN) said he should have removed the entire tax.

“While Gov. McDonnell bent to public outcry and reduced the hybrid car tax, he should have vetoed it altogether, as thousands of Virginians urged,” CCAN Virginia State Director Beth Kemler said in a statement. “The hybrid tax remains an unfair and unreasonable policy. A $64 fee is just as arbitrary as the whole policy is to begin with.” 

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The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced Thursday that it was cracking down on auto lenders that may be discriminating against certain borrowers.

The consumer watchdog issued a bulletin laying out its authority to punish lenders who illegally mark up borrowing rates for certain borrowers, including minorities, effectively informing the industry that the bureau is taking a close look at this activity.

“Consumers should not have to pay more for a car loan simply based on their race,” said CFPB Director Richard Cordray. “Today’s bulletin clarifies our authority to pursue auto lenders whose policies harm consumers through unlawful discrimination.”

Supporters argue that privacy laws have not kept pace with new technologies.

The Interior Department will take a “second look” at its preliminary decision to prevent construction of a road through an Alaskan wildlife refuge that supporters call vital to providing emergency medical access to a small village.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) announced the agreement Thursday, providing at least a temporary easing of a battle that has threatened to gum up the nomination of Sally Jewell, the nominee for Interior secretary.

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee is slated to approve Jewell, the head of outdoor gear giant REI Inc., later Thursday morning. She will still require confirmation by the full Senate.

“There is no greater good we could do than to provide the residents of King Cove a safe land route to the airport in Cold Bay so they can be evacuated in cases of medical emergencies,” Murkowski, the top Republican on the energy panel, said in a statement.

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One of President Obama's limousines broke down early Wednesday morning in Tel Aviv, the Secret Service said.

"We experienced mechanical trouble with one of the cars," said Edwin Donovan, a spokesman for the Secret Service. "We don't know the cause."

Israel's Channel 2 reported that the limousine was accidentally filled with diesel instead of regular fuel. The network also broadcast images of the vehicle being towed away and a replacement being flown in to meet the president.