Trump Administration
General Motors Can’t Have It Both Ways
Several media outlets are reporting that General Motors, Toyota, and Fiat Chrysler are intervening on the side of the Trump Administration in California’s lawsuit challenging the federal government’s yanking of the state’s permission to issue its own tailpipe standards for greenhouse gases and to require zero emissions vehicles. (Cara described the lawsuit here. Julia and …
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CONTINUE READINGIs Trump’s California Climate Tantrum Bad Politics?
Here’s hoping so
Apparently it hasn’t been enough for the Trump Administration to roll back federal climate pollution standards for cars and power plants, announce its intent to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, promote coal usage even in the face of contrary market forces, and embrace expanded oil and gas drilling on public lands. As my colleague Ann …
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CONTINUE READINGWhy is Newsom vetoing SB 1?
Comparing the Governor’s statements with the text of the bill
The California legislature recently passed SB 1, which would translate into state law a range of federal environmental and worker safety standards that were in place before the inauguration of President Trump to protect against federal roll backs in those areas. However, Governor Newsom has indicated he will veto SB 1, on the grounds that …
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CONTINUE READINGWhy are automakers fighting Trump’s emissions rollback?
The answer may lie in the electric vehicle investments the industry is busy making
As we move ever deeper into an all-out legal war between California and the Trump Administration over rollbacks of automobile emissions standards (something Ann, Cara, and Julia have been covering very well), I want to explore in a little more depth why the automakers have been so resistant to Trump’s rollback efforts. The auto industry …
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CONTINUE READINGEPA/Transportation Announcement of California Waiver Revocation is Full of Falsehoods and Irony
How Many Misstatements Can You Find?
This morning, the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Transportation formally announced — as expected — that the Trump Administration is revoking California’s waiver to set its own vehicle standards. Yesterday, Trump tweeted the news, coupling it with falsehoods claiming that the rollback would save lives and save consumers money. As I blogged yesterday, both …
CONTINUE READINGTrump Announces Waiver Rollback on Twitter
Revoking California’s Clean Air Act Waiver Is Bad Policy and Legally Indefensible
This post was originally published on the American Constitution Society’s Expert Forum on September 18, 2019. President Trump announced the revocation on Twitter this morning. It’s not news that the Trump administration has been planning, via its so-called SAFE Rule, to freeze Obama-era fuel economy standards, roll back tailpipe greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions standards, and …
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CONTINUE READINGTrump’s Spite War Against California and the Automakers Ramps Up
Threatening letter, investigation in addition to waiver revocation
Today in the Trump spite wars against California and the four auto manufacturers, we learn that the threat to revoke California’s waiver was only the first salvo from the administration. As I blogged last night, the Administration is considering revoking California’s federal waiver to issue pollution standards for cars without simultaneously rolling back tough auto …
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CONTINUE READINGRumored White House Move to Revoke California’s Waiver Is Trump’s Revenge Against the State
Move Motivated by Spite, Not by Policy Considerations
A White House official today confirmed to Politico that the Administration is considering revoking California’s permission (called a “waiver”) to set its own greenhouse gas emissions and zero emission standards for cars and light trucks. Rumors are that the waiver revocation could happen as early as tomorrow. The news in this announcement is that the …
CONTINUE READINGAnti-Science Climate Denialists Must Be Behind the Methane Rollback
Reducing Methane is a Really Smart Climate Solution With Fast Results
Dan and Ken have offered quick takes on why the latest Trump assault on the environment is inexplicable — as they note, the oil industry doesn’t need or want a rollback of rules that regulate methane emissions, and the compliance costs to industry are tiny. So what is the point of gutting a rule to …
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CONTINUE READINGHelter Skelter
Even for deregulators, the latest rollback makes no sense.
The Washington Post reported this morning that EPA is getting ready to roll back yet another Obama Administration climate regulation — this time, one regulating natural gas leaks. I wanted to add a brief postscript to Ken Alex’s post on this. What struck me most immediately was the sheer economic weirdness of making this rollback …
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