House of Representatives Rescinds California’s Stricter Truck Emissions Rules
The new Federal Government of the United States of America has caused a lot of controversy since President Trump’s inauguration. In his attempt to remove everything and anything that even points to Joe Biden, Trump has been making some drastic changes.
In light of that, the President has started a feud with several State-level authorities and California is, as you probably know, one of the biggest targets. The State has several pieces of legislation that are against Trump’s views, and as you can imagine, that is a problem for the POTUS.
We have already written about California’s strict environmental laws, which are in line with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) waivers that have given California the right to enforce stricter pollution standards than are contained in federal regulations. Now, the federal government is interfering.
As stated, California is a state that seemingly wants to respect modern environmental policies under the administration of Governor Gavin Newsom. This is something that is definitely progressive and deserves praise, as California is the biggest U.S. State in many categories.
If California is a pioneering state in terms of environmental policies, then it could also lead other states to adhere to such strict standards in a time when the environment needs our protection more than anything else.
But the federal government doesn’t seem to think so. Namely, California’s recent plans involved policies that would require a rising share of zero-emission trucks, as well as its NOx emissions rules for heavy-duty vehicles. This is a big thing and it would mean a lot for the environment, but not everyone seems to think so.
Namely, the House of Representatives has recently voted to rescind these plans, effectively stopping California from implementing stricter rules than those on the federal level.
This vote was passed by the Republican majority, supported by a handful of Democrats. And while this will probably not mean much in terms of California’s future policies, as they will just find a workaround at a later date, it is an illustration of just how badly Trump wants to stop stricter environmental norms.
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