During remarks on the Senate floor Thursday, Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) spoke about the Republican effort to bypass the Senate Parliamentarian in order to gut California environmental regulations.
00:00mr. president senator from California is recognized mr. president I know we're
00:10working our way through a series of votes many people are at lunch or
00:15wrapping up lunch we have a little bit of business still ahead of us but I want
00:20to take a minute just to remind this body what has transpired here over the
00:27last 24 hours evidence again actions again demonstrating that Donald Trump and
00:38Republicans in Congress are stopping at nothing to attack California for the
00:43audacity of working to protect the health of Californians and for having the
00:49audacity to lead the clean energy economy but as I've said repeatedly over the
01:00last couple of days it's not just what Donald Trump's EPA and Senate Republicans
01:06are doing that's problematic it's how they made this possible by fundamentally
01:14changing how the Senate operates through rules changes last night that was not a
01:21magic trick before dinner yesterday these bills to get California's clean air act
01:28authority were recognized as regular bills subject to the filibuster rule
01:36requiring 60 votes to move forward open to full debate and amendments
01:43but somehow after dinner time yesterday once Senate Republicans were done with
01:49overruling the parliamentarian these bills were now not subject to the
01:55filibuster for the record and for the public's recognition this is the first
02:01time in Senate history that the majority has used a nuclear option to take joint
02:07resolutions that were subject to the filibuster one minute and eliminated the
02:12filibuster for them the next you may hear them try to deny it but it's all on the
02:20record so let me recap the Senate parliamentarian through the chair confirmed
02:26that all points of order waived during a Congressional Review Act resolution that in
02:36the law but the majority voted to ignore that provision of the law and raise one
02:41anyway then the Senate parliamentarian through the chair confirmed that these
02:48resolutions do not qualify repeat do not qualify for expedited consideration but the
02:56majority voted to override the parliamentarian again and plow ahead anyway but no one should be fooled
03:04what happened on the floor as witnessed by the public was nothing short of a power play that
03:13fundamentally changed how the Senate works why what was the driving impetus here is the president Trump is
03:25it the fossil fuel industry and what they want or did you happen to just think changing these rules and the way the Senate operates and the way the Senate operates
03:34was simply a good idea I would love to hear you make that case but I know that one of the results of last night's actions in today's votes is that California's will be forced to breathe dirtier air than they should have to California is being targeted for its leadership and is that blatant it is that obvious because yes for over half a century we've been the innovators and trailblazers in the day of the
04:04fight against pollution. A little bit of a history refresher here. Back in 1966,
04:12California established the first tailpipe emission standard for passenger vehicles in the nation,
04:20responding to California's unique air quality needs with policy based on science and data.
04:28A year later, California established the California Air Resources Board to more
04:35comprehensively address the severe air pollution and its consequences.
04:41Then, some of you may remember, a catastrophic oil spill off the coast of Santa Barbara.
04:50Californians rose up and demanded stronger environmental protections.
04:54And this became the birth of the modern-day environmental movement and eventually the
05:00first Earth Day in 1970, which has grown in its recognition and celebration. Now, that same year,
05:12Congress passed the Clean Air Act on an overwhelming bipartisan basis. That original Clean Air Act
05:18authorized the waiver provision that allows California to set our own separate and more
05:25ambitious vehicle emission standards. Now, flash forward to the year 2006,
05:32when California passed the Global Warming Solutions Act, setting the bold goal of reducing emissions to
05:391990 levels by the year 2020. It was the first in the world set of goals
05:50to establish both the regulatory and market programs to achieve real-world reductions in the greenhouse gas
05:58emissions that were causing climate change. I remember it vividly because that same year I ran for State
06:06Senate because I wanted to be part of crafting policies to actually achieve those goals and
06:12implementing those policies and programs. I went on to serve for six years as chair of the California
06:19State Senate Committee on Energy, Utilities, and Communications. And since then, California has
06:25continued to lead the nation with increasingly ambitious goals for cutting emissions.
06:31It's a remarkable history when you stop and think about it, and especially when you recognize that
06:38it hasn't just been Democrats that have been driving this. As president, former California Senator
06:46Richard Nixon signed into law landmark legislation including the National Environmental Policy Act,
06:53the Clean Air Act of 1970, the Endangered Species Act, and the creation of the EPA.
07:00Yes, folks watching at home, Republicans did that. As governor, Ronald Reagan established the California
07:09Air Resources Board, committing California to a comprehensive statewide approach to aggressively
07:15address air pollution in California. A Republican did that. It was Republican Governor Pete Wilson
07:23who established the California EPA. A Republican did that. And it was Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger,
07:30who signed that 2006 Global Warming Solutions Act into law. A Republican did that.
07:37As a result of the bipartisan efforts, in 2025, California achieved a diverse portfolio of clean
07:48energy resources. Think not just conceptual, but actually operational solar energy, wind energy, geothermal energy.
07:58All while fostering the fourth largest economy in the world. And we have a plan to decarbonize nearly every sector of our economy,
08:11from transportation to electricity to manufacturing, agriculture, construction, and buildings.
08:19It's that long-term vision that's diversified our energy sources so that after seasons of extreme weather,
08:28we can still take advantage, more importantly take advantage, of hydropower opportunity after rainstorms,
08:38or reap the benefits of expanded wind and solar energy because we've grown our battery storage,
08:44technology performance, and capabilities and capacity.
08:50Now here's where the rubber meets the road, colleagues.
08:54Most of you were not here last night in the wee hours of the morning when I explained that California,
08:59at the state and local level, have already done almost all they can to push the most ambitious regulatory agenda
09:09in the country to reduce emissions. They've done what they can from what's within their jurisdiction.
09:17We're investing in R&D into cleaner locomotives. We're investing in port electrification.
09:24We're making breakthroughs in hydrogen marine technologies like the first hydrogen fuel cell ferry in the United States.
09:34But despite all this progress, despite all this innovation, despite all this investment,
09:40we're still shy in too many regions of attaining federal clean air standards.
09:45Why? That's a logical question. If California is doing so much, why?
09:49Well, California has done everything it can, but the federal government has not.
09:57We need the federal government to do its part. Now, unless or until we have a federal government that says
10:05we need more ambitious goals and standards for the nation,
10:12then California needs and deserves the ability to lead for itself to protect Californians.
10:22And that's why these waivers have been so important, because absent the federal government doing its part,
10:30and I'm not holding my breath for the next three and a half years waiting for the Trump EPA to do so,
10:35then California needs the federal waivers to get the job done.
10:44But I know that even after all this progress, the detractors will fall back on the same tired playbook of excuses.
10:53We know that the big oil industry sees California's clean cars and clean truck sales as existential threats.
11:02California has made tremendous advancements, not just in technology, but in markets.
11:11But that's why the fossil fuel industry has launched an all-out assault on California's rules.
11:17I'll give you just one example. If you happen to be reading the Wall Street Journal this past January,
11:23you might have picked up an op-ed with the headline,
11:29quote, Biden's EPA tries to put one over with EV mandate, end quote.
11:35That kind of sounds a little ominous.
11:38But if you read it, who the authors were, the authors went on to complain about how slow
11:43and laborious the process is for EPA to revoke a California waiver administratively.
11:50They literally tripped themselves up searching for every possible way to weaponize the Congressional
11:56Review Act to take down California's waivers. Now, who were those authors? The authors were partners
12:05at the law firm of Bowdoin Gray, who represent oil and gas clients and who were in court actively
12:13trying to repeal California's waivers. So it makes a whole lot of sense when you realize that
12:24they were to publish this op-ed by June 8th, just 12 days before January 20th, when Donald Trump
12:32was sworn into his second term. And it's certainly no surprise that a month later, the EPA attempted to
12:41submit waivers as rules for congressional review, claiming that the Biden EPA had withheld them.
12:49Now, it's so rich to accuse the Biden administration of withholding EPA waivers when the first Trump
12:57administration did the exact same thing. And so did every other EPA before it, both Republican and
13:05Democratic in its entire 50-plus year history of the California waiver provision. In fact, when Donald
13:13Trump's EPA did what the Boyd and Gray lawyers told them to, submitting these waivers as rules to Congress,
13:22they actually still included language admitting that these were waivers and not rules.
13:27And when they were called on it, when it was pointed out, they had to go through the motions,
13:35do backflips and resubmit the waivers to Congress. Ridiculous. Blight. Now, regardless of
13:49how ludicrous this effort's been, we continue to hear all kinds of misinformation from
13:55detractors about why California's ambitious goals just won't work. I have a series of them,
14:02but I'll just focus on the main talking point that I've heard from my Republican colleagues and from
14:08industry. That California is somehow coercing other states into adopting California standards. Or
14:18to let California do this is the equivalent of setting a national standard.
14:22That's ridiculous. We've made it clear, let California take care of Californians. If California
14:34had the power, the authority to set those national standards, trust me, we'd be doing this and a lot
14:39more. But we don't. But I think the good work that California has done that has benefited Californians,
14:47both our health and our economy, along with our environment, has inspired more than a dozen other
14:53states to follow California's lead voluntarily. Nobody's forcing other states, blue states or red states,
15:02to follow California's lead. But there's other states who see the benefits of what California is
15:07doing. And they choose to do so to protect their residents and to protect their environment.
15:16And lastly, let me just conclude by stating something that has conveniently been stifled in
15:24this whole debate, limited debate and conversation. So who benefits from all this? It's not unleashing job
15:31creation and innovation in states, the other 49 states, but California. It's holding our nation back in
15:39terms of improving air quality and our transition to a clean energy economy. The winner here is actually
15:47China. Because like it or not, the clean energy boom globally is happening. And we have a big say in who
15:55leads it and who benefits from it. Is it the United States? Not by the leadership and the policies I've
16:01seen of this administration in the near future. It can be California, but it seems like you're more
16:10interested in taking our tools away. And so now we risk China jumping ahead, both economically and
16:18technologically in this space. So I'll remind you folks, despite it, not despite, but because of
16:30California's leaning in on addressing the emissions, pollution and climate challenges, California has
16:36become the fourth largest economy in the world. We have proven that what's good for clean air is good for
16:43business and the economy. And that is something that y'all to replicate and scale up, not fear and stifle.
16:56We have to be able to do both protect our planet, strengthen our economy. California has shown us the
17:02way we can have reliable cars. Our kids can breathe clean air. We can invest in our economy and in our future.
17:10California has been proud to fill the role of national leader in this space. We will continue to try to
17:18do anything and everything we can to do so both for our interest and for the nation's. But what's happened
17:26these last 24 hours makes that job makes the job that much harder. Thank you, Madam President.
