Sean Duffy vows to make America smoggy again

by Walter Einenkel for Daily Kos

Daily Kos Staff

Thursday, Dec. 04, 2025 Thursday, Dec. 04, 2025 at 8:55:07am PST

no image description available — Vehicles make their way westbound on Interstate 80 across the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy appeared on CNBC on Thursday to defend the White House’s announcement that it would reverse fuel economy standards set during the former Biden administration. In its continued effort to make pollution worse and help out the fossil fuel industry, the Trump administration is undoing progress toward fighting the climate crisis, promising, almost literally, to bring our country back to the economically troubled 1970s.

YouTube Video

Duffy: I think if you're building a car, developing a car that [former President] Joe Biden or [former Transportation Secretary] Pete Buttigieg wanted you to build. That's different than market demand. I want the market to decide what kind of EV I should offer. What kind of vehicles do the American consumers want to buy? This rule will actually allow you to bring back the 1970s station wagon, maybe a little wood paneling on the side, Phil [LaBeau]. We can bring back toys to consumers. So yeah, the minivan is awesome. But maybe the station wagon is cool too.