As President-elect Donald Trump prepares to roll back a number of green energy policies next year, the Biden administration is reportedly considering allowing California to ban new gas-powered vehicles in the state. There is.
California has set emissions standards that would ban the sale of new gasoline-powered vehicles in the state by 2035, but would require an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) waiver to move forward with such regulations.
Just weeks before the end of Biden's term, the Washington Post reported that the EPA plans to grant waivers to states to set stricter emissions standards for electric vehicles than the federal government allows. This was first reported from multiple sources who had been briefed on the incident.
The EPA did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment, but an EPA spokesperson told POLITICO's E&E News that the regulations are “to ensure that its decisions are permanent and based on the law.” He said he is still reviewing it.
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A Ford Pro AC charging station that charges a Ford Transit electric vehicle is on display at the AutoMobility LA 2024 car show at the Los Angeles Convention Center on November 21, 2024. (Etienne Laurent)
The report was released just days before the Supreme Court rejected an oil company's request to challenge California's constitutional authority to set its own standards for electric vehicles.
Citing concerns about climate change, the California Air Resources Board has waived a permit that would require 22% of new cars sold to be zero-emissions by 2025 and achieve a complete ban on gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035. requested the federal government.
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The state's exemption request was challenged by several conservative states and oil groups who questioned whether the state had the legal authority to impose such emissions standards, but the Supreme Court ruled Monday that , rejected the request for review.
California Governor Gavin Newsom plans to fight back if President-elect Donald Trump challenges the state's EV emissions standards. (Jason Almond/Los Angeles Times)
“EPA's decision to grant California this preemption exemption is based on solid legal foundations and decades of precedent, and will ensure critical clean air protection for millions of people. “There is,” said Alice Henderson, director and chief counsel for the Department of Transportation and Clean Air. Environmental Defense Fund policy following Supreme Court ruling.
However, Trump reportedly plans to specifically target California's EV standards when he takes office.
During his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump slammed Biden's actions related to California's proposed EV mandate.
President Trump: “Crooked Joe Biden, who just imposed a crazy, job-killing electric vehicle mandate at the federal level, is going to cut back on the U.S. auto industry by approving California's waiver request to ban the sale of all gas-powered cars.'' “We are preparing to massacre the remnants of the United States,” the campaign's national spokesperson, Caroline Levitt, told Fox News Digital in a statement.
President-elect Donald Trump plans to target President Biden's green energy policies after he takes office in 2024. (Oleg Nikin)
Mr. Levitt said that if Mr. Trump were elected, on his first day in office, he would rescind both the federal EV regulations and the waiver issued to California by the Biden administration.
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California officials met in early December to establish a way to “Trump-proof” the state before the next president's inauguration, allocating $25 million to a legal defense fund to fight the incoming administration. Ta.
