House votes to repeal California’s clean truck policies

The Republicans of the Chamber, joined by a few Democrats, voted on Wednesday to prevent California from obliging dealers to sell a growing percentage of medium and heavy vehicles with zero emission over time and to block an effort to reduce SMOG.

The two votes were the first of several Republicans in Congress who threaten the authority of California for a long time to set strict state pollution standards than the federal authorities.

On Thursday, the Chamber is expected to vote on the advisability of preventing California from implementing what is largely considered to be the most ambitious climate policy in the country: the prohibition on the sale of petrol cars by 2035.

Eleven other states have adopted the ban on California, which means that if it comes into force, it could move the entire American automotive industry to electric vehicles and accelerate a global transition.

“California should not be authorized to dictate national policy,” Republican representative John Joyce said on Monday, arguing for the repeal of California policies.

The action on measures is now going to the Senate.

Under the Clean Air Act of 1970, California can receive derogations to promulgate clean air standards more difficult than those established by the federal government, because historically, it has the most polluted in the country. Federal law also allows other states to adopt California standards such as their own, in certain circumstances.

Wednesday votes were a victory for fossil fuel companies and the truck industry. They had asserted the needs of California to limit nitrogen oxide from heavy vehicles, saying that it would be too heavy. Nitrogen oxide mixes in the atmosphere to produce ozone and SMOG at ground level.

The room voted from 231 to 191 to revoke the exemption from clean truck, 13 democrats joining all the Republicans. He voted from 225 to 196 to revoke the boundaries of nitrogen oxide, 10 democrats joining the Republicans.

California’s rules have been designed to reduce 90%nitrogen oxide emissions, which, according to state regulators, would produce $ 23 billion in public health benefits.

The representative Morgan Griffith, a republican of Virginia, called the nitrogen oxide restrictions “an effort to really vilify diesel engines”.

Killing the aggressive policies of California electric vehicles is an absolute priority for President Trump, who denies established climate change science and has sought to end the government’s support for electric vehicles and other clean energy technologies.

“California has imposed the most ridiculous car regulations in the world, with mandates to move in all electric cars,” Trump said in the campaign. “I’m going to end that.”

Governor Gavin Newsom, a democrat, accused the Republicans of bowing before the interests of fossil fuels and said that their actions were led to harming the state’s ability to protect its residents from pollution.

“Trump Republicans are again doing California Smoggy,” Newsom said in a statement.

The main car manufacturers have also asked Congress to stop the ban on California in 2035 on gas cars, saying that this is equivalent to an unreasonable electric vehicle mandate that will increase cars and limit the choice of consumers.

Democrats and public health defenders claim that derogations from California are essential to reduce dangerous pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.

“The unprecedented home action to eliminate the protections of the clean air from American children is scandalous,” said Will Barrett, principal director of the American Lung Association.

If the Republicans succeed in repealing derogations by car and trucks, “many more people will continue to fall sick with extreme ozone pollution, and part of these people will die in fact,” said Bob Yuhnke, a retired environmental lawyer that works with the climate action of the Ancients, an environmental group.

The battle was complicated by legal disputes on the legislative regime that Republicans use to block California policies.

The votes of the Chamber were held under the Congressional Review Act, a law of 1996 which allows the legislators to reverse the regulations recently adopted by the agencies adopted with a simple majority.

But earlier this month, the Senate parliamentarian ruled that California’s derogation was not a regulation and was therefore not eligible for a vote under the Congress Revision.

The Republican leaders of the Senate must now decide to take the rare stage of challenging the parliamentarian to call exemptions for a similar vote.

California legislators qualified illegal votes and said they would contest republican efforts.

“California’s authority and responsibility to regulate its own pollution are devoted to federal law and have been approved several times on a bipartite basis and reaffirmed by years of independent review,” said Senator Adam Schiff, Democrat of California, in a statement.

“We are going to fight against this last attack against the power of California to protect its own residents, and I will exhort my colleagues in the Senate to recognize the serious implications of the procedure of this violation of the rights of the States, as well as the dangerous previous which he would have established by defeating the unanimous opinion of the confidence arbitrators of the Congress,” he said.

Governor Newsom described the votes of “without law” and added: “Our vehicle program helps clean air for all Californians, and we will continue to defend it”.

The Republicans had argued that, due to the economic influence of California, the automobile exemption put a de facto national policy which should be treated as a regulation. But two decisions of the government of the government of responsibility, the branch of Congress guard dog, found the opposite.

California has received hundreds of derogations over the years, and none had been presented at the Congress for a vote – so far.