Smog over Los Angeles. Photo: Steven Buss on Flickr
The US government is poised to approve California emissions regulations that will end the sale of gas-only vehicles in the state by 2035, according to a report by the Washington Post.
The Post spoke to anonymous sources who said California's “Advanced Clean Cars 2” emissions regulations, set for completion in 2022, will be approved by the federal government in the coming days.
California has asked for waivers on several other emissions rules — and has received some of them in recent years — but the sources did not comment on which other pending rules, such as those for heavy-duty trucks, would be approved at the same time.
WaPo reached out to the EPA via email, and a spokesperson declined to comment on the rumors. WaPo quoted spokesman Nick Conger as saying “EPA continues to review California's waiver requests closely to ensure its decisions are sound and based on the law.”
History of California emissions laws
For decades now, California has had a special “dispensation” granted by the federal government, allowing it to set its own emissions laws as long as they are stricter than the overall US laws.
This is due to severe smog problems in California – especially in the areas around Los Angeles, its largest city and home to the nation's largest port; and in the central valley, which is the most productive agricultural land in the country. Both of these areas contain emissions from the millions of vehicles that drive on their roads every day and cause very poor air quality.
Thus, since the 1960s when the California Air Resources Board was created (by then-Governor Ronald Reagan), California has generally exercised its state prerogative to set its own emissions regulations. Other states are allowed to follow these laws, but only if they copy directly.
A new set of rules has been in effect since 2020, and will have the effect of ensuring that there are no new gas-only vehicles in the state by 2035 (although there may be 20% plug-in hybrids, but those hybrids must meet certain requirements to ensure that they are used correctly).
California deliberately chose this very conservative timeline of 2035 because it thought it would make it easier for other states to follow suit. And as a result, 11 other states have signed on to adopt the standards.
The new emissions rules are expected to save Californians $13 billion in health care costs, prevent thousands of deaths, cut vehicle emissions in half, and result in the burning of nearly a billion barrels of gasoline. Other states will see similar health improvements and savings.
The EPA is offering a new exemption for California – another clean air battle to come
All of this depends on the EPA signing off on the regulation, which it is reportedly poised to do in the coming days.
The approval is unexpected, but comes late in President Biden's term, which has been marked by significant improvements in emissions regulations and EV policy, leading to increased domestic manufacturing jobs and investment.
Although a procedural step like this is usually not particularly noticeable, there are some complexities here.
Unfortunately for America, the convicted Donald Trump, the next occupant of the White House – who ended up getting more votes than his opponent in his third attempt (despite the coup in 2021, for which there is a clear legal solution) – says it strongly. that he wants to roll back these clean air policies, thereby binding Americans to polluted air, high costs and poor health, and to send EV jobs to China to ensure that this new growth of American products cannot flourish.
Mr. Trump previously jumped into the White House between 2017-2021, after receiving the most votes in the 2016 election. During that time, he tried to poison the American people by exacerbating California's emissions laws – but in keeping with his pattern of inaction, he failed to do so.
The main real effect of the last war with California was to withdraw the federal and California standards. Although California has gone largely isolated since the 60s, there was a brief period in the 2010s where California and state laws were harmonized – but industry lobbying led to the collapse of that consensus, giving corporations a much tighter regulatory environment.
The industry learned its lesson, but the republicans still want dirty air
As a result, this time, the industry decided to lobby against smashing emissions standards, realizing the chaos caused the last time a fool got involved in setting car regulations.
Despite the wishes of the industry in question, Mr. Trump has signaled that he wants to “rip up” California's waiver again – although the law does not specify how to revoke the waiver once approved, as the EPA is reportedly expected to do in the coming days.
So it remains to be seen whether he will take the sensible approach desired by big cars, doctors, nurses, scientists, environmental organizations, other businesses, people with lungs, and so on; or if instead he's going to make that big oil, industry he's asking for $1 billion in bribes and killing millions of people around the world every year he wants to do. Place your bet now.
Another thing that makes this issue difficult is that this time, Mr. Trump has a corrupt kangaroo court backing him, which said today it will consider a challenge to California's big oil extraction laws. This illegal court tends to ignore the law on the bench, so it's likely that it will try to say that California, which has been legally allowed to set its own emissions laws for 60 years, shouldn't be allowed to do so. something the law clearly states it can do.
Charge your electric car at home using solar panels on the roof. Find a reliable and competitively priced solar installer near you EnergySagefor free. They have pre-tested installers that compete with your business, guaranteeing high quality solutions and 20-30% savings. It's free, no sales calls until you choose an installer. Compare custom solar quotes online and get guidance from unbiased energy advisors. Get started here. – advertisement*
FTC: We use auto affiliate links to earn income. More.
