Trump blocks California’s ban on new sales of gas-powered cars
Trump bans CA's ban on gas-powered cars
President Donald Trump signed a resolution blocking California’s first-in-the-nation rule banning the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035.
President Donald Trump signed a resolution blocking California’s first-in-the-nation rule banning the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035.
The state quickly announced it was challenging the move in court.
What we know:
The resolution was approved by Congress last month and aims to quash the country’s most aggressive attempt to phase out gas-powered cars. Trump also signed measures to overturn state policies curbing tailpipe emissions in certain vehicles and smog-forming nitrogen oxide pollution from trucks.
Trump called California’s regulations "crazy" at a White House ceremony where he signed the resolutions on Thursday. "It’s been a disaster for this country," he said.
California files lawsuit
The other side:
In response to the president's decision, California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit, saying Trump's actions "will have life or death consequences for CA communities breathing dirty, toxic air."
"We’ve filed our lawsuit against the Trump Admin for illegally targeting California’s clean vehicles program. CA will fiercely defend ourselves from this lawless federal overreach," Bonta wrote in a post on X.
Trump expresses doubt about EVs
Dig deeper:
The three resolutions Trump signed will block California’s rule phasing out gas-powered cars and end the sale of new ones by 2035. They will also kill rules that phase out the sale of medium- and heavy-duty diesel vehicles and cut tailpipe emissions from trucks.
In his remarks at the White House, Trump expressed doubts about the performance and reliability of electric vehicles, though he had some notably positive comments about the company owned by Elon Musk, despite their fractured relationship.
"I like Tesla," Trump said.
In remarks that often meandered away from the subject at hand, Trump used the East Room ceremony to also muse on windmills, which he claimed "are killing our country," the prospect of getting electrocuted by an electric-powered boat if it sank and whether he’d risk a shark attack by jumping as the boat went down.
"I’ll take electrocution every single day," the president said.
When it comes to cars, Trump said he likes combustion engines but for those that prefer otherwise, "If you want to buy electric, you can buy electric."
What they're saying:
"What this does is it gives us freedom," said Bill Kent, the owner of Kent Kwik convenience stores. Kent, speaking at the White House, said that the California rules would have forced him to install "infrastructure that frankly, is extremely expensive and doesn’t give you any return."
The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents major car makers, applauded Trump’s action.
"Everyone agreed these EV sales mandates were never achievable and wildly unrealistic," John Bozzella, the group’s president and CEO, said in a statement.
Boosting the automotive industry
Trump’s signing of the resolutions comes as he has pledged to revive American auto manufacturing and boost oil and gas drilling.
The move follows other steps the Trump administration has taken to roll back rules that aim to protect air and water and reduce emissions that cause climate change.
The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday proposed repealing rules that limit greenhouse gas emissions from power plants fueled by coal and natural gas.
Dan Becker with the Center for Biological Diversity, said the signing of the resolutions was "Trump’s latest betrayal of democracy."
"Signing this bill is a flagrant abuse of the law to reward Big Oil and Big Auto corporations at the expense of everyday people’s health and their wallets," Becker said in a statement.
Clean Air Clash
California, which has some of the nation’s worst air pollution, has been able to seek waivers for decades from the EPA, allowing it to adopt stricter emissions standards than the federal government.
In his first term, Trump revoked California’s ability to enforce its standards, but Democratic President Joe Biden reinstated it in 2022. Trump has not yet sought to revoke it again.
Republicans have long criticized those waivers and earlier this year opted to use the Congressional Review Act, a law aimed at improving congressional oversight of actions by federal agencies, to try to block the rules.
That’s despite a finding from the U.S. Government Accountability Office, a nonpartisan congressional watchdog, that California’s standards cannot legally be blocked using the Congressional Review Act. The Senate parliamentarian agreed with that finding.
California, which makes up roughly 11% of the U.S. car market, has significant power to sway trends in the auto industry. About a dozen states signed on to adopt California’s rule phasing out the sale of new gas-powered cars.
The Source: Information for this story came from President Donald Trump, an X post by AG Rob Bonta, and the Associated Press.