Emissions rollback: Bonta files 23rd lawsuit against Trump Administration
State sues Trump, again, over vehicle emission standards
California Attorney General Rob Bonta on Thursday announced he's suing the federal government for its efforts to roll back state emission standards and its law to ban the sale of gas powered vehicles starting in 2035. This is the 26th time the state has sued the federal government.
OAKLAND, Calif. - California has 48% more electric vehicle chargers than it does gas nozzles, and a new lawsuit from the state Attorney General is fighting to keep it that way.
Rob Bonta on Thursday filed his 23rd lawsuit against the Trump Administration, in response to a bill blocking a state law banning the sale of new gas-powered vehicles by 2035. It also offers less stringent regulations on tailpipe emissions.
"We made a promise that if the president attempted to illegally interfere with our clean air standards, we'd hold him accountable in court," Bonta said in an interview announcing the lawsuit. "Today we are making good on that promise."
Congressional Review
What we know:
Trump was signing a bill passed under the Congressional Review Act, which allows Congress to pass legislation overturning a rule issued by a federal agency. In this case, it allows for the undoing of tougher environmental protections granted to California under the 1970 Clean Air Act — protections put in place to help the state reduce severe air pollution. Renewable energy and lower or zero-emission vehicles have become part of that effort.
Trump, in signing the bill, said he was "rescuing the U.S. auto industry from destruction by terminating the California electric vehicle mandate once and for all."
The president called the state regulations "crazy," and said it's "been a disaster for this country."
Bonta said Trump doesn't have the legal authority to "weaponize" the CRA against California,
The U.S. Government Accountability Office, a nonpartisan congressional watchdog, found that California's standards cannot legally be blocked using the Congressional Review Act. The Senate parliamentarian agreed with that finding.
It may not be so cut-and-dry, though.
"What has gone through Congress is essentially the equivalent of legislation. And that, of course, can ordinarily supersede any sort of inconsistent prior legislation," Tseming Yang, a professor of environmental law at Santa Clara University, said in an interview with KTVU.
Bonta filed his lawsuit in the Northern District Court of California. If his suit is unsuccessful, he can appeal to the federal appellate level. Legal experts say the case will likely work its way all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Loosening restrictions
Big picture view:
California, which makes up roughly 11% of the U.S. auto market, has significant power to sway trends in the auto industry. About a dozen states signed on to adopt California's rule phasing out the sale of new gas-powered cars.
Trump has pledged to revive American auto manufacturing and boost oil and gas drilling.
The CRA bill follows other steps his administration has taken to roll back rules that aim to protect air and water and reduce emissions that cause climate change.
The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday proposed repealing rules that limit greenhouse gas emissions from power plants fueled by coal and natural gas.
Dan Becker with the Center for Biological Diversity, said the signing of the resolution was "Trump's latest betrayal of democracy."
"Signing this bill is a flagrant abuse of the law to reward Big Oil and Big Auto corporations at the expense of everyday people's health and their wallets," Becker said in a statement.
California, which has some of the nation's worst air pollution, has for decades been able to seek waivers from the EPA, allowing it to adopt stricter emissions standards than those of the federal government.
In his first term, Trump revoked California's ability to enforce its standards, but Democratic President Joe Biden reinstated it in 2022. Trump has not yet sought to revoke it again.