California leaders are battling to impose the state’s radical, costly emissions standards on Americans — potentially across the country.
California’s regulatory power, large market, and partnerships with other aligned states give it significant influence over national vehicle emissions standards.
‘We need to hold the line on strong emissions standards and keep the waivers in place, and we will sue to defend California’s waivers.’
On Thursday, Governor Gavin Newsom (D) and Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) announced that the state plans to file yet another lawsuit against President Donald Trump.
The announcement follows a morning U.S. Senate vote, 51-44, to pass a measure that would revoke three of California’s vehicle emissions waivers approved last year under the Biden administration’s Environmental Protection Agency.
Two of the waivers concern tailpipe emissions for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles and truck smog requirements. The third requires all new vehicle sales in California to be zero-emissions by 2035.
The state standards are more strict than the federal regulations.
The Clean Air Act granted California the ability to set more stringent standards. However, Republican lawmakers contended that the Congressional Review Act gives Congress the authority to overrule measures implemented by federal agencies like the EPA.
Senate Democrats argued that the Government Accountability Office and Senate parliamentarian found that the act does not give Congress the power to revoke the waivers.
Bonta accused Senate Republicans of “bending the knee” to Trump as the president attempts to slash red tape and unleash American energy.
“The weaponization of the Congressional Review Act to attack California’s waivers is just another part of the continuous, partisan campaign against California’s efforts to protect the public and the planet from harmful pollution,” Bonta continued. “As we have said before, this reckless misuse of the Congressional Review Act is unlawful, and California will not stand idly by. We need to hold the line on strong emissions standards and keep the waivers in place, and we will sue to defend California’s waivers.”
Newsom called the Senate’s vote “illegal.”
“Republicans went around their own parliamentarian to defy decades of precedent. We won’t stand by as Trump Republicans make America smoggy again — undoing work that goes back to the days of Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan — all while ceding our economic future to China. We’re going to fight this unconstitutional attack on California in court,” Newsom remarked.
Since January, California has taken legal action against Trump’s administration 22 times. Newsom set aside $50 million in taxpayer funds to file lawsuits against the administration.
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