California has passed a new regulation that will ban the sale of gas-powered vehicles; the new emissions rule, which was permitted by the Biden administration, will have wide-ranging effects beyond California and could accelerate the nationwide transition to electric cars.
California’s Air Resources Board (CARB) finalized a rule Thursday that will outlaw the sale of gas-fueled cars by 2035. [bold, links added]
The law may push an increasing number of states to adopt similar rules and force Americans to exclusively buy electric vehicles (EVs) as numerous Democrat-run states such as New York, Massachusetts, and Maryland routinely adopt California’s “clean car” standards, according to data from the Maryland Department of the Environment.
President Joe Biden’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) restored California’s Clean Air Act waiver in March, which gave the state legal authority to set its strict vehicle emissions standards, according to a press release.
The Trump administration formally revoked the waiver in September 2019, stating that California did not need specific emissions standards as the environmental problems caused by emissions were not unique to the state.
“During the Trump administration, we tried to codify and articulate that California did not have the authority to set greenhouse gas standards,” former EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “I don’t think Congress gave that authority to California, specifically to set their own standards for greenhouse gases.”
Furthermore, 17 Republican attorneys general filed a lawsuit in May against the EPA after it reinstated California’s waiver, according to legal filings.
“This leaves California with a slice of its sovereign authority that Congress withdraws from every other state,” West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey told the DCNF about the EPA’s ruling.
“The EPA cannot selectively waive the Act’s preemption for California alone because that favoritism violates the states’ equal sovereignty.”
Moreover, the attorneys general argue that California’s waiver puts a “burden of compliance on auto-manufacturers” as automakers will have to cater to both California’s new rules and the mainline federal regulations, according to legal documents.
The state’s ban will require 100% of new cars sold in California, the country’s largest auto market, to be free of fossil fuel emissions by 2035.
Interim targets also require 35% of vehicles sold in the state by 2026 to produce zero emissions, rising to 68% by 2030.
“It’s 100% by 2035, but it’s 35% by 2026, California has between 11% and 13% EVs as its total share of cars,” Wheeler said. “It’s unrealistic … they can’t get to 35% EVs by 2026 let alone 68% by 2030.”
California hopes to enforce this rule through a mandate that could penalize automakers up to $20,000 per vehicle if they fail to meet the state’s sales quotas, a CARB spokesman told the DCNF.
Read rest at Daily Caller
Years ago, early ’70’s, when California demanded cleaner exhaust emissions from the automakers, Detroit pondered building models for California and 49-state models for the rest of us. The Big 3 decided to build the same cars for everyone. They saw what was coming, New York wanted what California wanted.
One constant I’ll hang my hat on is that environmentalists refuse to be placated. They have clean air and clean water but mind control is next. Stand in line for an EV, like it’s the latest Apple offering. Love it. Brag about it. Can’t live without it.
I doin’t see SCOTUS backing California on this lawsuit as filed by 17 States. The market & consumer choice is the best way (ultimately) to determine allocation of resources. If EV’s are superior to ICE vehicles, then they will dominate in a free market. Heavy handed government intervention & mandates distorts markets & creates shortages & higher consumer prices. Look no further than electricity as the latest example. Relying on blind green ideology is a recipe for continued poor performance & unwelcome results…
Biden the Stupid mandates EV,s for everyone but himself and his Partners in Crime the DNC