Trump Sends California Searching for New Air Pollution Plans

Mars Wu is one of many closely watching for a highly anticipated list of recommendations that will be made to California Gov. Gavin Newsom next week.

That’s because Wu went before the California Air Resources Board in June to make her own pitch for the list, which will help dictate the next phase of the state’s clean vehicles program.

“California should really use its limited dollars towards closing these equity gaps that the market is failing to fill,” says Wu, the senior program manager for transportation equity at The Greenlining Institute, an organization that promotes climate, racial and economic equity.

The state must focus more funds and resources on addressing barriers to adopting zero-emission vehicles in disadvantaged communities, like reliable charging stations and affordable cars, according to Wu.

The public meeting Wu took part in as well as the Aug. 11 recommendations deadline come as California grapples with how to handle its air pollution problem after Congress and President Donald Trump revoked the state’s long-standing ability to set vehicle emission standards stricter than those of the federal government.

With its toolbox now limited, California must navigate its goals of decreasing pollution and increasing the use of electric vehicles and other zero-emission cars with an unsupportive federal government watching its every move.

Though California stands next to last in the air quality category of the U.S. News Best States rankings, pollution is a nationwide problem. And air quality is on the decline across much of the U.S.

Decades of research have shown that exposure to air pollution can come with a multitude of health problems, including an increased risk of respiratory infections, heart disease, stroke and lung cancer.

Nearly half of Americans are living in areas with unhealthy levels of air pollution, according to the latest “State of the Air” report from the American Lung Association. California claims seven of the top 10 most polluted counties.

Transportation plays a major role in air pollution, as the burning of fossil fuels in cars releases a number of pollutants into the atmosphere. Air pollution from transportation contributes to smog and poor air quality.

The high number of cars on California’s roads as well as the state’s surrounding mountain ranges that prevent pollutants from dispersing make it a hot spot for air pollution.

Trump has spent much of his second term trying to offset well-established federal responsibilities to states when it comes to the Education Department or Federal Emergency Management Agency. But that’s not the case for California, at least when it’s about air pollution.

Congress gave California the authority to set its own vehicle standards under the 1967 Clean Air Act to address some of the country’s worst air quality. The state responded with an aggressive agenda that saw the Environmental Protection Agency approve over 100 waivers for its clean air and climate efforts.

But in June, Trump signed into law the repeal of three of the states most ambitious waivers:

• A waiver that allowed California to implement a plan to phase out the sale of new gasoline-powered cars by 2035.
• A waiver that allowed California to require an increasing percentage of zero-emission trucks to be sold in the state.
• A waiver that allowed California to set more stringent low-nitrogen oxide emission standards for heavy-duty highway and off-road vehicles.

“It is the Federal Government, not States, that should establish vehicle emission standards given the inherently interstate nature of air quality; a patchwork of State vehicle regulations on this subject is unworkable,” Trump said in a statement.

The steps are a major win for the oil and gas industry, which has long stood against California’s vehicle emission standards and applauded Trump’s decision as a win for the American consumer.

“The President and Congress just delivered a major win for the American people by overturning California’s gas car ban and the state’s attempt to tell consumers what they can and can’t drive,” American Petroleum Institute President Mike Sommers and American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers President Chet Thompson said in a joint statement at the time.

California – as well as other states that were using the Golden State’s standards – sued Trump, arguing Congress and the president illegally used the Congressional Review Act to revoke the waivers.

It’s far from the only blow to California’s air pollution strategies and the electric vehicle market in the era of Trump. After Trump was elected for a second time but before his inauguration, California announced that it would abandon four pending waivers that the Biden administration had not yet approved that included a proposal to phase out diesel trucks. Additionally, Trump has since reversed many federal policies on electric cars, including tax credits of up to $7,500 for electric vehicle purchases and leases.

Restrained by the Trump administration, California now has to look for other ways to address its air pollution that steer clear of the federal government.

That’s where the public comes in.

In response to Trump’s actions, Newsom signed an executive order in June “kickstarting development of next-generation policy to spur innovation, updating state vehicle purchasing requirements and directing the state to craft new actions to accelerate affordable clean vehicle adoption.”

He ordered the California Air Resources Board and other state agencies to assess additional actions to spur zero-emission vehicle adoption in California and to deliver formal recommendations next week. The state hosted a series of public meetings – including the one Wu spoke at – to hear ideas from environmental and scientific communities, automotive and trucking industries, fleet operators, community groups and the public on how to move forward.

“Lots of folks are trying to figure out what those things should be, and I’m one of them,” says Dan Becker, the director of the Center for Biological Diversity’s Safe Climate Transport Campaign. “But no decisions have been made.”

“The governor and the legislature should understand that their people need to breathe clean air, and that auto pollution is the worst contributor to the polluted air in California,” Becker says. “So they’ve got to do something, and I’m optimistic that they will.”

He says the state can do several things that don’t require waivers, including incentivizing automakers to make zero-emission vehicles. For example, to sell a new car in California, it must be tested for certification before its sale. Becker says the state could prioritize quicker review for zero-emission vehicles.

“The auto companies are completely within their rights to make vehicles that emit less than the law requires,” Becker says. “Trump is basically saying, ‘Emit as much as you want.’ But there are reasons why auto companies might not want to pollute as much as they’re legally allowed by Trump … and the biggest one is called China.”

Experts are concerned that if the U.S. electric vehicle market slows, it could cede influence to China, which boasts a robust market at a much more affordable price.

Mary Nichols, who was previously the chairwoman of the California Air Resources Board, says the “worst case scenario” would be that Trump’s actions slow down the push toward electric vehicles. “The best case is that the market takes off as it deserves to, and companies decide to boost production and to continue or extend their investments of electric vehicles.”

Becker says the industry shouldn’t wait until Trump leaves office to act.

“California shouldn’t wait now to begin preparing the way for that because you don’t want to start in 2029 from ground zero,” he says. “You want to have already prepared everything and built your case and got ready to submit it to the next administration.”

The future state of California’s air quality is linked to the electric vehicle industry.

“California is the most important car market in the country and, therefore, the most important car market in the world,” Becker says.

Over 2.3 million zero-emission vehicles have been sold in California, and currently about 1 in 5 new cars sold are zero-emission vehicles, according to the state.

“The reality is that California has an enormous amount of power,” Becker says. “It would be better if they continued to have the standards that Trump is trying to take away from them, but there are things that they can do even if Trump succeeds in the short term.”

Becker and Nichols expressed optimism in the state’s lawsuit against Trump over the repeal of the EPA waivers. But both also say steps need to be taken in the meantime to continue momentum.

“California is moving forward with electric cars,” Nichols says. “It’s still moving forward, as is the rest of the world, and we’re going to continue to do that.”