U.S. Climate Change Policy: Made in California
- 7 years ago
U.S. Climate Change Policy: Made in California
As chairwoman of the California Air Resources Board, or CARB, Ms. Nichols is the de facto enforcer of the single biggest step the United States has taken to combat the effects of climate change: standards adopted under the Obama administration
that mandate a deep cut in emissions from the 190 million passenger cars on America’s roads.
At a March meeting of the CARB board — where she and her fellow board members resolved to push ahead with stricter emissions rules for cars
and trucks, with or without the federal government — she stared down the auto industry representatives present.
Should the agency try to curtail California’s ability to set its own rules — by challenging its Clean Air Act waiver, for example —
the fight will more than likely end in court, said Kevin Poloncarz, a San Francisco lawyer focusing on air and climate change law.
“We’re going to work on the CAFE standards so you can make cars in America again,” Mr. Trump said in a speech in Detroit
this year, referring to the Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards, which were first put in place in 1975.
Still, the automakers soon balked at the ambitious pace of fuel efficiency improvements under the program, which requires automakers to
progressively raise the fuel economy of their cars to an average of 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025, nearly double the average in 2012.
P.A., has said that he will not seek to revoke the federal waiver
that allows California to set auto emissions standards — an action that would likely propel the issue to court.
As chairwoman of the California Air Resources Board, or CARB, Ms. Nichols is the de facto enforcer of the single biggest step the United States has taken to combat the effects of climate change: standards adopted under the Obama administration
that mandate a deep cut in emissions from the 190 million passenger cars on America’s roads.
At a March meeting of the CARB board — where she and her fellow board members resolved to push ahead with stricter emissions rules for cars
and trucks, with or without the federal government — she stared down the auto industry representatives present.
Should the agency try to curtail California’s ability to set its own rules — by challenging its Clean Air Act waiver, for example —
the fight will more than likely end in court, said Kevin Poloncarz, a San Francisco lawyer focusing on air and climate change law.
“We’re going to work on the CAFE standards so you can make cars in America again,” Mr. Trump said in a speech in Detroit
this year, referring to the Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards, which were first put in place in 1975.
Still, the automakers soon balked at the ambitious pace of fuel efficiency improvements under the program, which requires automakers to
progressively raise the fuel economy of their cars to an average of 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025, nearly double the average in 2012.
P.A., has said that he will not seek to revoke the federal waiver
that allows California to set auto emissions standards — an action that would likely propel the issue to court.