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Bloomberg
California’s environmental regulator broke with the Trump administration by maintaining its cleaner-
car standards through 2025 and launching a formal effort to write even tougher rules for the following five years.
The California Air Resources Board voted unanimously to maintain the state’s 2025 limits on tailpipe greenhouse gas emissions and begin drafting stricter goals for zero-emission vehicle sales through 2030. Targets for the share of sales that need to be powered by battery, fuel cell or plug-in hybrid powertrains are set for 15 percent by 2025, from about 3 percent today.
CARB’s vote to continue down the path of stricter emissions rules could lead to a showdown with President Donald Trump, who described environmental regulations in the US as “out of control†when meeting the chief executive officers of General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV in January. The state regulator’s chairman chastised the industry for seeking the review of federal standards that Trump agreed last week to reopen.
“What were you thinking when you threw yourselves on the mercy of the Trump administration to solve your problems?†Chairman Mary Nichols said during a hearing Friday. “What did you mean when you said you don’t want to question the overall thrust of the standards? Why do another review if the current program is basically OK?†Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt has said he will review the state’s legal authority to enforce its own limits on pollution and carbon dioxide emissions.
Myron Ebell, the former head of Trump’s EPA transition team, told Bloomberg News last week that Trump’s Transportation Department may determine only the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration can regulate fuel economy and exclude the EPA and California from such rule-making.
“We tried very hard not to provoke or defy the national government and we’ve had a good past with the EPA,†Nichols told reporters following the hearing Friday. “I don’t expect there to be a war on California. I was obviously disappointed when I heard Pruitt commenting that he might reconsider the California waiver.†The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers said ahead of the CARB meeting that electric vehicles’ share of overall demand for new autos has been roughly flat for years. The trade group representing automakers including GM, Ford and Fiat Chrysler asked the regulator to wait at least two years before considering the higher zero-emission vehicle targets for 2030.