After his recent visit to Detroit to meet with leaders from the US automotive industry, Donald Trump could come up with nothing better than announcing the elimination of the emissions control measures put in place by Barack Obama to combat climate change. According to Trump, this is a measure that will “benefit the industry”, making it more competitive and able to generate more jobs, jobs that we know perfectly well will never return, because they simply do not exist anywhere other than in his outdated head. For somebody who not only denies humanity’s biggest problem, climate change, but also believes it is “a Chinese invention,” the approach appears logical: remove constraints and the industry will become more competitive.
In fact, the emissions control measures imposed by Barack Obama were the biggest incentive for improving the American automobile industry. The restrictions forced it to invest in producing more efficient engines and above all in alternatives to internal combustion engine, which has seen the first generation of hybrid vehicles and subsequently an interest in developing more efficient electric cars.
Removing restrictions will not make the automotive industry more competitive: just the opposite, it will encourage complacency, reduce the need for change, and relax companies’ agenda so they can continue to manufacture and sell less efficient and…
