Supreme Court to Decide Fate of Far-Left California Car Emission Standards, War on Cars
Companies and trade groups representing the oil and energy industry have filed suit with the Supreme Court trying to overturn California’s stricter-than-federal emission standards. These standards are critical to the left-wing manipulation of the car market to make Electric Vehicles (EVs) seem cheap by making gas cars much more expensive than they otherwise would be.
Industry groups and conservative states have complained to the court that the current regulatory regime allows California to operate like a “junior-varsity EPA.”
President Trump has promised to fight these California and EPA regulations to help bring down costs for American consumers and car buyers.
The District of Columbia Court of Appeals had previously ruled in the case that the conservative challengers to the law could not prove enough harm from the EPA’s waiver to California to regulate ‘clean air’ in order to move forward with the litigation. The Supreme Court’s order reviewing the decision is not reviewing the substance of the case, but by possibly overturning the appellate case on this technicality, it may signal to the lower courts that it wants the judiciary to overrule this regulatory regime.
Yesterday, the Supreme Court said it would review the Court of Appeals’ decision in this case, giving hope to the pro-car litigants that the case may ultimately unravel California’s oppressive regulations strangling car manufacturers.
Meanwhile, California is increasing the pace of its regulations on cars powered by gasoline.
As part of the Advanced Clean Cars II regulations, all new passenger cars, trucks, and SUVs sold in California are required to be ‘zero-emission’ or non-gasoline vehicles by 2035. This requirement even applies to freight and passenger trains, a development that experts say is practically impossible with current technology.
The fake science and fake economics behind electronic vehicles, which rely on largely faked ‘climate change’ science, works to the benefit of Communist China, which has cornered the global markets on the ‘rare earth’ minerals necessary for electric vehicles and their batteries.
Even though California only makes up 12% of the car market, it has a disproportionate regulatory impact on the rest of the American car industry. In 2019, the Trump administration attempted to revoke California’s waiver that allows it to set its own standards, leading to legal battles. The Biden administration restored the waiver in 2022.
California passed a recent ‘clean air’ program that will raise the state’s estimated per-gallon taxes and compliance by another 50-75 cents per gallon. California currently has the nation’s highest gas tax in the country, a combination of 59.6 cents per gallon in addition to a state sales tax on gas of 2.25%. This is all in addition to the federal excise tax of 18.4 cents per gallon to fund highways.
California’s standards require vehicles to produce lower emissions of harmful pollutants, including nitrogen oxides (NOx), which are contributors to smog; particulate matter (PM), consisting of fine particles that pose significant risks to respiratory health; and carbon dioxide (CO2), a greenhouse gas that drives climate change.
For instance, California’s vehicle emission standards have been adopted by 11 other states: Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington, along with the District of Columbia.
The federal government offers tax credits to incentivize the purchase of electric vehicles (EVs), aiming to promote environmental sustainability and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. As of 2024, the federal tax credit for qualifying new EVs is up to $7,500, while qualifying used EVs may be eligible for a credit of up to $4,000.
At least 400,000 Californians fled the state for other locations, driven in large part by failing left-wing economic policies.
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