GM, Toyota and Chrysler side with Trump in emissions battle with California

US President Donald Trump leaves after speaking at the Major Cities Chiefs Association and Major County Sheriffs Association Winter Meeting in Washington, DC, February 8, 2017.Getty General Motors, Toyota and Fiat Chrysler plan to back President Donald Trump in a contentious battle with California officials over automobile emissions rules, splitting with major rivals including Ford.GM, Toyota and several other automakers plan to intervene on the administrations behalf in a lawsuit filed by environmental groups challenging the U.S. Department of Transportations rule stripping California of its ability to regulate tailpipe greenhouse gas emissions.The move was announced Monday by John Bozzella, a spokesman for the companies siding with the administration, who call themselves the Coalition for Sustainable Automotive Regulation.California and more than 20 other states have filed suit to block the administration’s plan to revoke the state’s powers, a legal battle that threatens to tie up the critical industry standards in litigation for years with an uncertain outcome. With our industry facing the possibility of multiple overlapping and inconsistent standards that drive up costs and penalize consumers, we had an obligation to intervene, said Bozzella, who is also chief executive officer of the Association of Global Automakers, an industry trade group. The decision to intervene in the lawsuit is about how the standard should be applied, not what the standard should be.The Trump administration last year proposed to dramatically ease federal automobile greenhouse gas emission and fuel economy standards that had previously been coordinated with California. California officials rebuffed and vowed to continue to enforcing their more stringent standards, which are in place through 2025.The move by GM and the other companies breaks with Ford, Honda, BMW and Volkswagen, which in July agreed to meet tougher emissions targets set by California. The automakers siding with the administration were harshly criticized by some Democrats, environmental organizations and California regulators.Mary Nichols, chairman of the California Air Resources Board, said in a statement that the state regulator was disappointed in automakers hiding behind the Trump administrations skirts and its assault on public health.Most automakers have urged officials in Washington and Sacramento for more than a year to compromise, but no deal materialized after limited talks broke down earlier this year.Still, Bozzella said he held out hope for a middle ground. We can still reach an agreement that is supported by all the parties, he
Origin: GM, Toyota and Chrysler side with Trump in emissions battle with California

BTCC 2019: BMW drivers hit trouble in title battle

The battle for the 2019 Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship took several dramatic twists at Knockhill, with title contenders Colin Turkington and Andrew Jordan both involved in dramatic incidents. Jordan had entered the weekend trailing his fellow BMW 3 Series driver by 30 points, but a race two win – combined with an incident for Turkington – moved him to within four points of the lead. But Jordan’s luck changed when he was taken out of the final race, with Turkington salvaging tenth to restore his lead in the standings to ten points. The title contenders didn’t take all the attention. Local star Rory Butcher took pole position at the circuit his father owns, and followed up with victory in the first race. The Honda Civic Type R driver led Jordan throughout, and survived a side-by-side battle with the BMW man on the final lap. Dan Cammish finished third in his works Civic, with Turkington fourth. The BMW’s rear-wheel-drive helped Jordan grab the lead at the start of race two, with Butcher soon coming under pressure and losing second to Cammish. Butcher then found himself under pressure from Turkington, with the championship leader eventually battling past at the first turn. Butcher tried to regain the spot with a late move at a tight right-hander, but made contact with Turkington, pitching the BMW into the gravel. Butcher held on to finish third behind Jordan and Cammish, but was later penalised five places on the grid for the final race. Having finished tenth in the second race, Audi S3 driver Jake Hill drew pole position for the reverse grid finale, and duly controlled the race throughout, surviving a safety car restart to take his first BTCC win ahead of Josh Cook (Civic Type R).  There was more drama behind, with Adam Morgan battling up to third in his Mercedes A-Class ahead of Chris Smiley (Civic).  Jordan was involved in some early contact, but his race ended in disaster when Senna Procter spun his Subaru Levorg ahead of him. Jordan was unable to avoid the spinning car, and was pitched into the gravel and out of the race. From the back of the grid Turkington was able to battle up to tenth, scoring some valuable points to rebuild his title lead with six races remaining. The next event is at Silverstone on 29
Origin: BTCC 2019: BMW drivers hit trouble in title battle