Slotkin joins Senate Republicans in rejecting California ban of gas-powered cars
Congress has approved a resolution rejecting a waiver granted to California by former President Joe Biden's administration that would have allowed that state and possibly others to ban the sale of new gasoline-powered cars, trucks and sport-utility vehicles by 2035.
But the fight over whether Congress' decision to do so − or President Donald Trump's efforts to stop California in its effort to block the sale of vehicles with internal combustion engines as a means of reducing greenhouse gases − is legal, is probably just beginning.
On May 22, the U.S. Senate voted 51-44 in favor of a resolution already passed in the House to turn back the Biden administration waiver granted to California by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) about a month before Biden left office this January that allows the state to require an increasing share of new cars, trucks and SUVs sold to be zero emission or otherwise penalize automakers.
Both chambers did so after Trump's new EPA head, Lee Zeldin, asked for a legislative review under a law that allows the House and Senate to reject some agency rules within 60 business days of their being notified.
The Senate vote was largely along party lines with Republicans in favor of rejecting the waiver and Democrats against doing so. The one exception was Democratic U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, who voted in favor of the resolution and against the waiver, saying she was doing so because she has "a special responsibility to stand up for the more than 1 million Michiganders whose livelihoods depend on the U.S. auto industry."
Noting that several other states are also allowed to follow California's greenhouse gas waivers under amendments to the Clean Air Act, Slotkin, who was elected last year, said she has to acknowledge market forces and the reality facing the auto industry. "As of today, not a single one of these states is anywhere near complying with California's requirements (for sales of zero-emission vehicles) and some are even reversing course. That means car manufacturers, including the Detroit Three, will be forced to eventually stop the sale of gas-powered cars in these states or pay competitors, particularly Tesla, for credits to remain compliant."
Automakers, through the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a Washington trade group, had argued that the California waiver and a ban on gasoline-powered new cars was not realistic in the given time frame and have long advocated for a single national standard over a patchwork of rules. Slotkin's Senate colleague from Michigan, Democrat Gary Peters, who is stepping down at the end of the current term, voted against the resolution and for the waiver.
About 23% of California's market was electric vehicles last year. The state's program calls for that to be 35% for model year 2026 vehicles and 68% by the end of the decade, despite a slowdown in sales of EVs nationally, though the resolution by Congress leaves in doubt what happens next to those targets.
With Republicans in the majority in both legislative chambers and only a simple majority required to pass a resolution under the Congressional Review Act (rather than a 60-vote supermajority needed for most votes in the Senate), there was little doubt the resolution would pass. But there remained questions as to whether California's waiver, granted under provisions in the Clean Air Act, is subject to that review law, otherwise known as the CRA.
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The Government Accounting Office (GAO) had previously found that the waivers granted to California and the other states under the Clean Air Act provisions weren't reviewable under the CRA.
Neither the Senate nor the House ended up accepting that interpretation from the GAO, however, leaving in question whether the resolution, which is certain to be signed by Trump, will meet scrutiny in the courts once California, most likely through its Air Resources Board, files suit, which it likely will do. This spring, after the House passed the resolution, Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom said, "Our vehicles program helps clean the air for all Californians, and we'll continue defending it."
Trump and his Republican allies have been aggressively attempting to eliminate efforts to promote the sale of electric vehicles or restrict the sale of vehicles with internal combustion engines, despite transportation sources being one of the leading contributors of greenhouse gases, which cause climate change.
Dan Becker, director of the Safe Climate Transport Campaign at the Center for Biological Diversity, a national environmental group, said the Senate vote was one to "increase asthma, lung cancer and cardiac deaths" as well as a "reward (to) Big Oil and Big Auto corporations at the expense of everyday people's health and their wallets.'
More: Former state House Speaker Joe Tate, of Detroit, jumps into US Senate race
John Bozzella, president and CEO for the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, disagreed, saying, "The fact is these EV sales mandates were never achievable. Automakers warned federal and state policymakers that reaching these EV sales targets would take a miracle, especially in the coming years when the mandates get exponentially tougher."
'By the way, the problem really isn't California," Bozzella added. "It's the 11 states that adopted California's rules without the same level of readiness for EV sales requirements of this magnitude."
Contact Todd Spangler: tspangler@freepress.com. Follow him on X @tsspangler.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Slotkin joins Senate GOP in rejecting Calif. ban of gas-powered cars
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