Donald Trump’s efforts to roll back standards for both fuel consumption and vehicle efficiency haven’t generated jobs for workers, profits for companies, or any savings to consumers. But they have generated a huge amount of confusion—which is expected to continue as the White House tries to take away authority of the state of California that is written into federal law.
When the Clean Air Act was written, it included a special provision that California had the right to set its own standards for vehicle efficiency and emissions, so long as those standards were at least as tough as those of the federal government. The provision was made in recognition that conditions and the sheer scale of cities such as Los Angeles could require tougher standards. In fact, the smog then plaguing California cities was a big force behind why there is a Clean Air Act. Other states can choose to follow either the California standard or the federal standard.
At some points in the past, this has led to the United States having two standards, and anyone purchasing a car over a decade ago may have run into models that were advertised as meeting California emissions rules. But for many manufacturers it was simply cheaper and easier to meet California’s standards—especially since those standards were often similar to rising standards in Europe and other markets.
Under President Obama, the problem was solved by an agreement that essentially united the standards, setting federal levels that were tough enough to satisfy California regulators and bringing the whole nation into a single standard. That system satisfied both states and manufacturers. So, naturally, Donald Trump set out to break it.
After Trump rolled back the CAFE standards, it broke the unity between California and federal standards. Trump seemed to think that automakers would jump at the chance to burn more gas and pump out more emissions. But rather than celebrate Trump’s actions, the companies immediately began negotiating with California over new standards. At the same time, more than a dozen states elected to follow the standard being defined by California.
The way that the White House is trying to sell this is clear enough. It’s presenting California’s standards as expensive and a case of a state trying to “impose its failed policies on the rest of the country.” Except that those standards have played a tremendous role in cleaning up California’s air, and consumers are already getting cars that meet those standards. This is one of the great success stories of environmental regulation making a positive difference for millions of Americans.
But the worst language is being saved for the automakers. Trump seemed genuinely taken aback at their choice to do what’s both the right thing and the best thing for them in terms of producing cars that can be marketed to the world. The acting director of the White House Office of Management and Budget dismissed them as “a handful of irresponsible automakers” who are “aiding California’s radical agenda.”
The radical agenda here is to keep regulations close to what they were before Trump set out to wreck them. And the handful of automakers are more or less everyone.
The idea of smashing California’s primacy on auto emissions is one of those things that is celebrated by the same right-wing sites that are convinced America is being held back by things like the Endangered Species Act. Which makes it almost certain that the DOJ will sue to end California’s rights.
But what grounds they will use to end a rule that was created with the recognition that it could cause higher vehicle prices, because that was a necessary cost, isn’t clear.
