Latest news with #vehicleemissions
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Senate sparks outrage after blocking state's gas car ban in stunning reversal: 'We are sowing poison seeds for the future'
The United States Senate voted in late May to overturn California's strict vehicle emissions standards, which were set to phase out sales of new gas-powered cars by 2035. In a 51-44 vote, the Senate reversed a decision that had given California the green light to enforce rules requiring an increasing number of new-car sales in the state to be zero-emission vehicles. As reported by the Los Angeles Times, federal lawmakers pulled back approval for a major environmental policy that aimed to speed the shift to electric vehicles and cut down on harmful air pollution and carbon emissions. Using the Congressional Review Act to repeal the waivers has been reported as atypical of Senate procedures. NPR also noted that "there are significant questions" about whether this use of the CRA has strong legal standing. In an effort to keep California's policies in place and allow the state to move forward to a cleaner and cooler future, Senator Adam Schiff had issued a dire warning to the Senate. "We are sowing poison seeds for the future," Schiff said, per the LA Times. "Seeds that will grow to be more asthma and more sickness and more hospitalization and more death. That is the bleak but blatant reality of what we are debating here today." The policy, known as Advanced Clean Cars II, was introduced by the California Air Resources Board in 2022. It was then approved by the Environmental Protection Agency in late 2024. The policy would have required carmakers to steadily increase the number of electric or hybrid vehicles they sell in California. By 2035, only zero-emission or hybrid vehicles would have been allowed as new-car sales in the state. In 2022, California Governor Gavin Newsom released a comprehensive plan for the state to achieve carbon neutrality by 2045. This included Advanced Clean Cars ll and other initiatives designed to focus on renewable energy, clean buildings, carbon removal, and clean fuels. Ahead of the 51-44 vote and from the Senate floor, Senator John Barrasso offered up a rebuke of Advanced Clean Cars ll and other policies designed to encourage the adoption of EVs. "Democrats have this delusional dream of eliminating gas-powered vehicles in America," he said, per the LA Times. "They want to force-feed electric vehicles to every man and woman who drives in this country. Well, Republicans are ready to use the Congressional Review Act to end this Democrat electric vehicle fantasy," Barrasso added. With federal lawmakers rescinding a state's requirements intended to improve air quality and reduce heat-trapping pollution, there could be consequences for human health. For example, the particulate matter produced by gas-powered cars, especially in areas of dense population and high traffic, has been linked to serious concerns, including decreased lung function and cardiac conditions, with the greatest impacts on children, older people, and marginalized communities. Should the government ban gas stoves? Yes Only in new buildings Only in restaurants No way Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. By revoking Advanced Clean Cars ll, the Senate may have also greatly impacted the fate of similar policies around the country. Following California's lead, 11 other states have drawn up plans to gradually phase out gas-powered cars over the coming decades. These states include New York, Massachusetts, Colorado, and New Mexico. Now that the measure has passed in the Senate, it will go to President Donald Trump, who is expected to sign it into law. However, Newsom and California Attorney General Rob Bonta said the state would sue in an attempt to restore the gradual gas-powered vehicle ban. While speaking at a news conference, Newsom pointed to a larger picture, one he says goes well beyond the borders of California. "This is about our economy, it's about our health, it's about our global competitiveness," Newsom said. "It is, Donald Trump, about our national security, and it's about our ability to continue to innovate and outpace competition all across the globe," he added. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
E&E News
23-05-2025
- Automotive
- E&E News
California says it'll sue feds over electric vehicle rule reversal
SACRAMENTO, California — Attorney General Rob Bonta said on Thursday that California will sue the Trump administration to protect its ability to set its own vehicle emissions rules. Bonta said he would file the lawsuit whenever President Donald Trump signs off on Congress' vote on Thursday to overturn California's phase-out of gasoline-fueled cars and trucks. It would mark his 23rd lawsuit against the Trump administration this year. 'The federal government's overreach is illogical,' Bonta said in a press conference in Sacramento. 'It's politically motivated, and it comes at the expense of Californians' lives and livelihoods.' Advertisement The Senate earlier Thursday voted 51-44 to overturn the Biden administration's approval of two of California's latest vehicle rules using the Congressional Review Act, changing the Senate's rules to proceed with the vote despite the finding of the Senate parliamentarian and the Government Accountability Office that the waivers were beyond the reach of the CRA. The Trump administration is expected to sign the resolutions into law in the coming weeks.
CBS News
22-05-2025
- Automotive
- CBS News
Sen. Elissa Slotkin is lone Democrat to cross party lines in vote to revoke California's EV emissions waivers
When the U.S. Senate voted 51-44 in favor of revoking three vehicle emissions waivers in California, Sen. Elissa Slotkin was among the senators voting in favor of their revocation. She was, in the final count, the lone Democratic Party member who voted that way. Slotkin said she voted "to prevent California and the states that follow its standard from effectively banning gas-powered cars by 2035." She defended her vote against party lines, saying she has "a special responsibility to stand up for the more than one million Michiganders whose livelihoods depend on the U.S. auto industry." The waivers the Senate revoked include one that's frequently called California's "EV mandate," a rule to phase out gas-powered cars and require all new vehicle sales in California to be zero-emission by 2035. That rule was scheduled to go into effect in 2026. "Michigan is the auto capital of the world," she said. "As of today, not a single one of these states is anywhere near complying with California's requirements 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." At the same time, Slotkin spoke out against the procedural aspects of the vote. Republicans argued that the Congressional Review Act gives Congress the ability to overturn rules passed by federal agencies, but Democrats argue that bypassing the filibuster sets a dangerous precedent, with some even questioning the legality of the move. "Unfortunately, the way Senate Republicans brought this vote to the floor will have longstanding implications for how we change and make laws in the U.S. Senate. That is why I voted at least 11 times against the Republican attempts to change the Senate rules and bring this provision to the floor," Slotkin said. "House Republicans last night gutted those incentives for EV advancement. And let's make no bones about it, if this becomes law, China is poised to dominate that global marketplace for the foreseeable future at our expense." Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called the vote a "nuclear option." Eric Henderson Eric Henderson is Managing Editor, Midwest for He has won three Emmy Awards, an Eric Sevareid Award and two Edward R. Murrow Awards. and contributed to this report.
CBS News
22-05-2025
- Automotive
- CBS News
Senate votes to revoke California's EV emissions waivers
The Senate on Thursday voted to revoke three vehicle emissions waivers in California, a controversial move that the chamber's parliamentarian says Republican lawmakers may not have the right to make. The vote was 51-44, with Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan joining Republicans in voting in favor of revoking the waivers. Ahead of the vote, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, called it "the nuclear option." The three waivers the Senate revoked set stricter vehicle emissions standards than federal regulations. Two waivers relate to reducing tailpipe emissions from medium and heavy-duty vehicles, as well as limiting smog pollution from trucks. The last is what's frequently called California's "EV mandate," a rule that aims to phase-out gas powered cars and require all new vehicle sales in California be zero emissions by 2035. The rule to phase out gas powered vehicles goes into effect in 2026. California was granted the ability to enact stricter vehicle emissions standards than the federal government under the Clean Air Act in a process that involves receiving a waiver from the Environmental Protection Agency if the regulations meet certain requirements. The three waivers in question were approved by the Biden administration's Environmental Protection Agency in 2024. Republicans argue that the Congressional Review Act gives Congress the ability to overturn rules passed by federal agencies — including the waivers — by a simple majority vote, but nonpartisan government watchdogs do not agree. The Government Accountability Office and the Senate parliamentarian found that the Congressional Review Act could not be used to vote down California's waivers because the waivers are not the same as rules, according to Senate Democrats. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a South Dakota Republican who supported revoking the waivers, said in remarks Tuesday on the Senate floor that "the EPA has submitted the waivers to Congress as rules — which is all that Congress has ever needed to decide to consider something under the Congressional Review Act." But Democrats say such a vote is illegal, and argue overruling the parliamentarian and bypassing the filibuster sets a dangerous precedent. "If they invoke this nuclear option now, they should expect that a future Democratic government will have to revisit decades worth of paltry corporate settlements, deferred prosecution agreements, and tax rulings that were overly favorable to multinationals and ultra-wealthy individuals," said Senate Finance Committee ranking member Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, in a statement. The California Air Resources Board, a state body that designed the vehicle emissions regulations and requested the waivers, measures and sets pollution standards in California to comply with the Clean Air Act. It claims that the state has applied for over 100 waivers that have resulted in vehicles being 99% cleaner in terms of pollution, compared to vehicles from 1970. The board says they have never had a waiver revoked in the 50 years it has had the ability to enact them. "The law is that the Clean Air Act says California can set its own standards if they are more stringent, more environmentally protective than whatever the federal government standard is," said Mary Nichols, who was the California Air Resources Board chairwoman from 1975-1982 and then from 2007-2020. Nichols told CBS News that if Congress uses Congressional Review Act to revoke the waivers, the state of California will sue the federal government. California Gov. Gavin Newsom and state Attorney General Rob Bonta announced Thursday that they would sue the Trump administration over the vote. "This Senate vote is illegal," Newsom said. "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." Voting down California's waivers is expected to impact cities and states across the country, as 16 additional states and the District of Columbia have adopted California's vehicle standards. Republicans have staunchly criticized California's emissions rules, especially the one aimed at driving the auto industry toward electric vehicles. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, a West Virginia Republican who chairs the Senate Environmental and Public Works Committee, said this week that the rules amount to "forcing certain states and certain consumers to purchase a vehicle that they may not want or that they can't find." The auto industry has been pushing for Republicans to revoke California's waivers. The Specialty Equipment Market Association represents the automotive aftermarket industry, where a third of its businesses are dependent on internal combustion engines and see the waivers and expansion of electric vehicles as a threat to business. "The death of California's waiver will give life to more than 330,000 American jobs and preserves over $100 billion of economic impact to the nation's economy," the association said in a statement. But environmental groups are alarmed by the unprecedented use of the Congressional Review Act to revoke the waivers. The Environmental Defense Fund said in a statement that a vote by Congress would undermine California's ability to address pollution. "Using the CRA on EPA's preemption waivers could create a precedent for sweeping congressional nullifications of other executive actions that are outside the scope of the CRA — from decisions about Americans' eligibility for Social Security, to waivers for state Medicaid or veterans' health benefits, to actions related to energy infrastructure projects," the group said.
Washington Post
22-05-2025
- Automotive
- Washington Post
Senate clears way to block clean air standards in California, including vehicle emission rules
WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans on Wednesday voted to establish a new precedent that will allow them to roll back vehicle emission standards in California , including a rule phasing out the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035. The winding series of Senate procedural votes that went late into the evening could have profound implications for California's longstanding efforts to reduce air pollution. It also established a new, narrow exception to the Senate filibuster even as Republicans have insisted that they won't try to change Senate rules.
