Trump administration bars California from requiring cleaner cars

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Vehicles travel north from San Diego to Los Angeles along Interstate Highway 5 in California December 10, 2013. REUTERS/Mike Blake (UNITED STATES – Tags: TRANSPORT SOCIETY)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump’s administration said on Thursday it is revoking California’s authority to set its own auto tailpipe emissions standards and require some zero-emission vehicles, a move certain to spark a legal battle between federal officials and the most populous state over the future of U.S. vehicles.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler said the decision will ensure nationwide rules that provide “much-needed regulatory certainty for the automotive industry.” Currently, California’s more stringent vehicle emissions rules are followed by a dozen other states that account for more than 40% of U.S. vehicle sales.

California, for decades given the authority by the federal government under presidents of both parties to establish its own emissions standards, responded with defiance.

The California Air Resources Board approved a resolution to allow the agency to pursue individual agreements with four automakers that in July agreed to voluntarily adopt emissions rules with California that were stricter than those proposed by the Trump administration but less stringent than rules pursued under Democratic former President Barack Obama.

The Trump administration cited those agreements as part of its rationale to deny California a waiver to allow the state to implement its own emissions rules.

Revocation of the state’s waiver authority will take effect 60 days after the formal publication of the action by the administration later this month. The move, which Trump had previewed on Wednesday, will have no immediate impact until the administration finalizes separate rules to weaken Obama-era emissions requirements through 2026, which Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao said would happen within weeks.

“No state has the authority to opt out of the nation’s rules and no state has the right to impose its policies on everybody else in our whole country,” Chao added.

The administration’s action represents its latest step to weaken or reverse environmental protections and efforts to combat the effects of climate change since Trump took office in 2017. Vehicle tailpipe emissions represent a major source of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.

Dan Becker, director of the Safe Climate Campaign environmental group, said the administration’s move will “make America polluted again” and ultimately hurt American automakers by making them less competitive in a global market that is moving toward more efficiency.

California officials have vowed to fight in court to preserve the state’s standards in a battle that could eventually be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. The Trump administration has been waging a multi-pronged battle to counter the state’s efforts to fight climate change by reducing emissions of greenhouse gasses from vehicles.

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