Fury as Republicans go ‘nuclear' in fight over California car emissions
California has long been one of the nation's preeminent eco-warriors, enacting landmark environmental standards for cars and trucks that go much further than those mandated by the federal government. Vehicles across the country are cleaner, more efficient and electric in greater numbers because of it.
But that could all change if Donald Trump and his Republican allies manage to revoke the state's ability to set its own, stricter emissions standards amid a White House crusade to combat climate-friendly policies.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sets and updates its own federal standards for all states on smog and emissions from cars and trucks, which the Biden administration made even stricter last year, saying they will save American drivers thousands in fuel costs and maintenance over the life of a vehicle.
But for decades, California has been granted the ability to make those rules even stricter to help address some of the worst smog and air quality issues in the nation, which are linked to a host of health effects that disproportionately affect people of color.
On Wednesday, the Senate voted to reverse the waivers, in move that prompted fury from Democrats who call it a 'nuclear' option, calling it an unprecedented, and illegal, use of the statute. The Government Accountability Office and the Senate parliamentarian have agreed, saying EPA waivers are not subject to the review law.
The House approved similar resolutions earlier this month. The resolutions now go to the White House, where Trump is expected to sign them.
'This move will harm public health and deteriorate air quality for millions of children and people across the country,' said senators Alex Padilla, Sheldon Whitehouse and the Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer, in a statement.
'This Senate vote is illegal. Republicans went around their own parliamentarian to defy decades of precedent. We won't stand by as Trump Republicans make America smoggy again,' California's governor, Gavin Newsom, said in a statement on Thursday. 'We're going to fight this unconstitutional attack on California in court.'
Kathy Harris, the director of clean vehicles at the Natural Resources Defense Council, emphasized California's ability to mandate strict emissions standards for cars, trucks and buses had existed for nearly 60 years, noting the state had been granted more than 75 waivers under Republican and Democratic presidents.
Among the waivers include rules to increase the share of electric vehicles each year among all new car and truck sales, as well as mandates that auto companies introduce progressively cleaner vehicles.
She described the waivers as a 'quadruple win', benefiting public health, air quality, drivers' pockets and the economy as a whole.
'These waivers are not new or novel,' Harris said in an interview. 'California has historically been innovators in systems to help produce cleaner air and stymying California's ability is a direct attack on our ability to limit pollution and health harming pollutants in the air.'
She added revoking the waivers would immediately lead to an increase in pollution on the nation's roadways.
More than a dozen states follow California's lead on emissions standards, according to the California air resources board. The standards now cover nearly 40% of new light-duty vehicle registrations and more than a quarter of heavy-duty vehicles like trucks across the entire US.
Automakers have largely followed California's emissions standards as well so they can continue to sell cars there, as the state equates to the fourth-largest economy on the planet.
Newsom upped the ante in the nation's environmental future in 2020, declaring his state would ban the sale of all new gas-powered vehicles by 2035. Eleven states have also joined California's plan to ban the sale of new gasoline-powered cars by the 2035 deadline, a reality that has spooked major car companies.
Joe Biden's administration approved the plan at the end of his term. Trump, however – a vehement opponent to many of the nation's climate efforts – has vowed to see them reversed.
'California has imposed the most ridiculous car regulations anywhere in the world, with mandates to move to all electric cars,' Trump said during his campaign last year. 'I will terminate that.'
Newsom on Wednesday cast the battle as a nail in the coffin for the American car industry and decades of public health advancements.
'The United States Senate has a choice: cede American car-industry dominance to China and clog the lungs of our children, or follow decades of precedent and uphold the clean-air policies that Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon fought so hard for,' he challenged Republicans in a statement. 'Will you side with China or America?'
The Senate's decision may have sweeping effects far beyond the state's borders.
Harris said she recently pulled up pictures of what air quality looked like in cities around the country in the 1960s before the Clean Air Act, the seminal environmental law that regulates the nation's air quality, was in effect. She described normal levels of smog in California as blanketing the state similar to the apocalyptic clouds of wildfire smoke that have descended during recent fire seasons.
The American Lung Association also found last month that Los Angeles remained the country's smoggiest city for the 25th time in 26 years of tracking, despite decades of improvements in air quality.
'I think we have forgotten about what our air used to look like,' Harris said. 'We take it for granted because it's a policy that's been around for so long we don't really recognize those direct benefits.
'There is still a long way to go, we have not succeeded in fully cleaning up our air yet,' she added. 'These types of policies help ensure we are moving in a positive direction.'
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Politico
25 minutes ago
- Politico
George Floyd unrest informs Trump's response to Los Angeles protests
President Donald Trump's response to the Los Angeles protests isn't just an opportunity to battle with a Democratic governor over his signature issue. The president sees it as a chance to redo his first-term response to a wave of civil unrest. As protests broke out after the killing of George Floyd in 2020, Trump's instincts were to deploy thousands of active-duty troops across U.S. cities. But some administration officials resisted the idea and reportedly urged the president against invoking the Insurrection Act to do so. Five years later, Trump sees something familiar as protests rage across Los Angeles in response to the administration's immigration raids. He moved quickly to deploy 4,000 National Guard members and 700 Marines to support law enforcement, a decision he credited on Tuesday with preventing a 'great City' from 'burning to the ground.' And he repeatedly signaled his willingness to invoke the Insurrection Act if protests continue to escalate. There's a chief motivating factor driving Trump's aggressive response: The president is eager to avoid a repeat of the summer of protest that followed a Minneapolis police officer's killing of Floyd. The civil unrest added another layer to the turmoil facing Trump, as the country reeled from the Covid pandemic and voters prepared to return to the ballot box. And this time, he has stacked his Cabinet with loyalists and is less restrained by officials such as those in his first administration who feared deploying active-duty military troops would further inflame tensions and be viewed as a step toward martial law. 'The president is trusting his gut here,' said a person close to the White House, granted anonymity to discuss the president's response, reflecting back to former Chair of the Joint Chiefs Mark Milley and former Defense Secretary Mark Esper breaking with Trump's desire to send troops. 'He thinks the Milleys and the Espers of the world, five years ago, they gave him bad advice on that stuff.' Administration officials and allies say the president's hardline approach also sends a warning to other city and state leaders as anti-ICE protests spread beyond Los Angeles. 'In 2020, I was a governor of a neighboring state to Tim Walz and watched him let his city burn,' Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in the Oval Office on Tuesday. 'The president and I have talked about this in the past: He was not going to let that happen to another city and to another community, where a bad governor made a bad decision.' It's yet another example of the president acting on his belief that he has a governing mandate from his 2024 comeback, which aides and allies attribute in large part to immigration and, specifically, the president's vow to deport undocumented immigrants. 'Is the left going to be able to take this over and turn rules-based immigration into yet another fight about how America is racist?' said Matt Schlapp, a Trump confidant and chair of the American Conservative Union. 'The No. 1 reason Donald Trump got reelected was the border. He's implementing exactly what he said he would do, and out of nowhere, there's violence in the streets, there's fire bombs, there's attacks on cops.' A White House official, granted anonymity to discuss the administration's thinking, said immigration enforcement has continued across the country despite the protests: 'Individuals in other cities should realize that rioting will not prevent immigration enforcement operations in their cities as well.' Trump has repeatedly referred to the protesters as 'insurrectionists' and 'violent insurrectionist mobs,' and his rhetoric intensified on Tuesday as he said the protests amount to an 'invasion' that threatens U.S. 'sovereignty' and that he will now allow 'an American city to be invaded and conquered by a foreign enemy.' He condemned what he called 'lawlessness' and the burning of the American flag, suggesting it should be punished with a year in prison — echoing his rhetoric from June 2020. But he also said the Los Angeles protests are not yet an insurrection — and that he will only invoke the Insurrection Act, which would allow troops to directly participate in civilian law enforcement, if it escalates to that point. The president on Sunday directed Noem, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Attorney General Pam Bondi to take 'all such action necessary to liberate Los Angeles' and 'put an end to these Migrant riots.' 'Mark Esper fought like the dickens to avoid the Insurrection Act. He wasn't the only one. So did Attorney General [Bill] Barr, and so forth,' said Ken Cuccinelli, who served as Trump's deputy of Homeland Security during the first term. 'Whereas, Pam Bondi and Pete Hegseth are more along the lines of just giving advice, and 'if it's the route you want to go, Mr. President, we'll salute and we'll move right down that path.' And that speaks to a unity in government that didn't exist in the first term.' The Trump administration's response has alarmed California Democrats, who warn that what's happening in their state paves the way for the president to deploy the military nationwide to enact his immigration agenda. The president has already militarized the border to an unprecedented degree, with military, immigration and legal experts questioning the legality of the approach and warning of potential violations to the Posse Comitatus Act, a federal law that generally prohibits active-duty troops from being used in domestic law enforcement. Trump's decision to deploy troops has also set off a legal firestorm: California sued the administration for deploying the National Guard without consultation, arguing that using the military to quell the immigration protests is illegal and unconstitutional. Gov. Gavin Newsom filed another suit on Tuesday, asking a federal judge for a restraining order to block Hegseth from ordering troops to support immigration raids in the city 'immediately.' 'There is no invasion or rebellion in Los Angeles; there is civil unrest that is no different from episodes that regularly occur in communities throughout the country, and that is capable of being contained by state and local authorities working together,' California Attorney General Rob Bonta and other lawyers wrote in the new motion. Rallies protesting the administration's ICE raids and immigration agenda spread across U.S. cities this week. And so-called 'No Kings' rallies, coinciding with the president's military parade in Washington on Saturday, are planned in more than 1,800 cities across the country, including the nation's capital. Trump warned on Tuesday that any protests during this weekend's parade will be met with 'very heavy force.' 'If there's any protester who wants to come out, they will be met with very big force,' the president said in the Oval Office. 'I haven't even heard about a protest, but [there are] people that hate our country.' Dasha Burns contributed to this report.


UPI
27 minutes ago
- UPI
Defense Secretary Hegseth defends LA deployments at Capitol Hill hearing
1 of 5 | Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth testifies at a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday. Hegseth argued "ICE has the right to safely conduct operations," as he defended the recent deployment of troops to Los Angeles. Photo by Aaron Schwartz/UPI | License Photo June 10 (UPI) -- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sparred with Democrats on Capitol Hill on Tuesday over the decision to send 5,000 Marines and National Guard troops into Los Angeles as some protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids turned violent. Hegseth, a former National Guardsman, testified before the House Appropriations subcommittee, where he defended the decision to deploy troops and the role of ICE. "We ought to be able to enforce immigration law in this country," Hegseth testified. "I think we're entering another phase, especially under President Trump with his focus on the homeland, where the National Guard and Reserves become a critical component of how we secure that homeland." "In Los Angeles, we believed ICE had the right to safely conduct operations," Hegseth added. "We deployed National Guard and the Marines to protect them." Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., asked Hegseth why he was sending "war fighters to cities to interact with civilians?" "ICE agents need to be able to do their job," Hegseth responded. "They are being attacked for doing their job, which is deporting illegal criminals. The governor of California has failed to protect his people, along with the mayor of Los Angeles. And so President Trump has said he will protect our agents and our Guard and Marines." Aguilar fired back against Hegseth's answer and said, "The law also says Mr. Secretary that the orders for these purposes shall be issued through governors of the states." Democratic Rep. Betty McCollum of Minnesota also sparred with Hegseth about the cost of deploying the National Guard and Marines, and whether their absence would impact trainings in other parts of the country. The two talked over each other repeatedly as Hegseth referenced the George Floyd murder protests and accused Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz of "abandoning a police precinct" in 2020. "We're both from Minnesota. I was in the Twin Cities during the riots that followed the murder of George Floyd. Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets for days," said McCollum. "At no point did we need Marines to be deployed. This is a deeply unfair position to put our Marines in. Their service should be honored. It should not be exploited." "You are right," Hegseth testified. "We are both originally from Minnesota. Which is why I recall 2020 quite well, when Gov. Walz abandoned a police precinct and allowed it to be burned to the ground -- and also allowed five days of chaos to occur inside the streets of Minneapolis." "We believe that ICE has the right to safely conduct operations in any state and any jurisdiction in the country," Hegseth continued. "Especially after 21 million illegals have crossed our border under the previous administration. ICE should be able to do their job." "Chairman, I have limited time," McCollum declared. "I asked a budget question." After repeated questioning about the budget by several committee members, Hegseth finally gave an answer. "We have a 13% increase in our defense budget and we will have the capability to cover contingencies, which is something the National Guard and the Marines plan for. So we have the funding to cover contingencies, especially ones as important as maintaining law and order in a major American city," Hegseth testified. During the hearing, Hegseth was also questioned about spending cuts to foreign aid programs, including USAID, and staffing cuts at the Defense Department, to which he argued the administration is reducing any program considered "wasteful and duplicitous."


The Hill
30 minutes ago
- The Hill
ABC News cuts ties with Terry Moran after Trump ‘hater' post
ABC News says it will not renew the contract of veteran journalist Terry Moran after he authored a social media post sharply criticizing President Trump and top White House aide Stephen Miller. 'We are at the end of our agreement with Terry Moran and based on his recent post – which was a clear violation of ABC News policies – we have made the decision to not renew,' a spokesperson for the network told The Hill on Tuesday. 'At ABC News, we hold all of our reporters to the highest standards of objectivity, fairness and professionalism, and we remain committed to delivering straightforward, trusted journalism,' the spokesperson added. Moran was suspended by the network over the weekend for his post on the social platform X in which he called Miller a 'world-class hater' and said 'you can see this just by looking at him because you can see that his hatreds are his spiritual nourishment. He eats his hate.' In the since-deleted post, Moran also criticized the president, saying he too is 'a world-class hater' and adding that 'his hatred only a means to an end, and that end [is] his own glorification. That's his spiritual nourishment.' Moran's post enraged the West Wing, which called on the Disney-owned network to punish the journalist. Almost immediately once Moran's ouster was made public, White House director of communications Steven Cheung celebrated the news, writing in an X post: 'Talk s—. Get hit.' Moran's ouster comes as Trump and his allies in government are ratcheting up pressure on broadcast news networks over their coverage of him and threatening to use executive power to crack down on coverage they say is unfair to his administration. Trump has called out ABC News specifically several times in recent weeks, suggesting the Federal Communications Commission scrutinize its broadcast license. The network late last year agreed to pay Trump $15 million to settle a defamation lawsuit out of court stemming from an incorrect statement made by anchor George Stephanopoulos during a broadcast claiming Trump had been convicted of sexual assault. Moran has worked for ABC News for more than two decades and is based in Washington, D.C., having served in a variety of roles for the network.