Guest essay by Eric Worrall
Bloomberg reports the Trump administration has mounted a direct attack on California’s right to regulate air pollution, and their apparent efforts to use their market weight to impose their vehicle emissions standards on everyone else.
Trump to Seek Repeal of California’s Smog-Fighting Power
By Ryan Beene , Jennifer A Dlouhy , John Lippert , and Ari Natter
24 July 2018, 02:07 GMT+10The Trump administration will seek to revoke California’s authority to regulate automobile greenhouse gas emissions — including its mandate for electric-car sales — in a proposed revision of Obama-era standards, according to three people familiar with the plan.
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The proposed revamp would also put the brakes on federal rules to boost fuel efficiency into the next decade, said the people, who asked to not be identified discussing the proposals before they are public. Instead it would cap federal fuel economy requirements at the 2020 level, which under federal law must be at least a 35-mile-per-gallon fleet average, rather than letting them rise to roughly 50 mpg by 2025 as envisioned in the Obama plan, according to the people.
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The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will likewise assert that California is barred from regulating greenhouse gas emissions from autos under the 1975 law that established the first federal fuel-efficiency requirements, the people said.
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California, with more than 2 million new cars and light trucks sold last year, is the nation’s biggest state market — on par with Canada. A dozen other states follow California’s vehicle rules, and together account for more than a third of U.S. auto sales. Colorado also plans to adopt California’s clean-car rules.
California and 16 other states plus the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit on May 2 seeking to block the Trump administration’s effort to unravel the Obama-era emissions targets. Sperling said that number will grow as more people come to realize how fundamentally Trump is attacking the idea of states’ rights.
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I’m sympathetic to the idea of states rights, states rights can be a protection as well as a hinderance – the ability of states to resist Federal policies was instrumental in combatting Obama’s regulatory overreach. On the other hand, California appears to be attempting to use their market strength to usurp more control over national vehicle regulation.
Glad I don’t have to figure this mess out.
Automobile greenhouse gas emissions? I am all for banning automobile methane emissions. That should also apply to oxen, horses, and other transportation alternatives.
What about automobile water emissions?
What about the most powerful greenhouse gas emission: DiHydrogen MonOxide? No one ever talks about DHMO and yet it is the most powerful and deadly of all the greenhouse gas emissions.
DiHydrogen is the “feedstock”(fuel)for the upcoming Suncell (inaptly named, though it is) …
“Colorado also plans to adopt California’s clean-car rules.”
I’m so disgusted about this. These animals made bank in real estate out there, then jumped ship once their socialistic/totalitarian collectivist ideals collapsed on top of them. Where did they end up? Colorado.
I’m disgusted, because our state (which had I known what was coming when I moved here I would have never) is being over run by totalitarians claiming diversity, except of course, diversity of thought, opinion, action, tradition…etc.
Go, go, go! Chew up those fruits and nuts.
I see this as cut and dry easy peasy. The federal government has the authority to regulate interstate commerce, per the Constitution, Article 1 Section 8. The reason for this section of the Constitution is for this very reason, so that states like California cannot impose their will on the economies of other states.
So either California cannot impose these regulations that drive the costs up for the entire nation, or the government collects a tariff for all products shipped to California which incurs extra costs to imply to their onerous regulations and gives that money to manufacturers to offset the cost of doing business with them.
If every car in California stayed in California they should be allowed to have local regulations … but they don’t so they shouldn’t be allowed their own rules … California is effectively regulating interstate commerce … something expressly forbidden by the Constitution since it would lead to chaos …
I do have to point out that so many of California’s regulations are pointless. Auto emissions control devices reached their maximum level of realistic effectiveness in the early 2000’s. After that, further reductions in regulated emissions had no meaningful impact on ambient air quality.
Remember that 50% of all hydrocarbon emissions in the LA basin come from plant life, not gasoline and cars, or paint solvents, etc. So there is a lower limit beyond which you cannot reach but regulators continued to reduce emissions levels which increased vehicle costs and reduced fuel efficiency. It has been estimated that these additional reductions in emissions below that which is needed cost all cars 20% in fuel efficiency. Mostly for NOx reduction.
And reducing NOx at the wrong time of day caused the ozone levels to increase. Known as the Weekend Ozone Effect. Look it up.
Also remember that the use of Ethanol to reduce emissions only worked in carbureted cars, not cars with fuel injection and catalytic converts. With modern vehicles, Ethanol does nothing to reduce emissions therefore is a pointless regulation meant only to enrich corn farmers. And no one wants to touch this issue because the first primary in the presidential election is in Iowa. Note that Corn caused a huge increase in land value since 2003. Prices rose from about $3,000/acre to over $21,000 in some places. Some of my relatives made millions off this absurd increase in land value. One of the drivers was that corn was so profitable that the farmers wanted to shield themselves from taxes by investing in their business. They purchased all the land they could and drove up prices to their current level. If the Ethanol Mandate were rescinded, prices would crash.
One wonders what would happen would they realize the damage done by Ethanol. When engineers reach the level of ability and physical/chemical principles, this nonsense should (would?) stop.
OT/ …a string of strong quakes have struck at Gold Beach Oregon today, 9 total with 3 of those from 4.9 to 5.6 mag. I was wondering if the continuous quake activity in Hawaii might lead to a reaction on the West Coast fault zones. Anyway, from the look of this current action there is yet to be seen a main event, imo. In other words there is a heightened probability for a strong to very strong quake on the Gorda Plate, anywhere from Eureka California up into Coastal Oregon. This is something to keep an eye on.
Over the next seven days the Moon is entering a long Full phase, which is always the most likely time for a larger quake to strike, imo. ….http://www.moonconnection.com/moon_phases_calendar.phtml
Look up Dutchinsense on Youtube.
Every quake happens within 2 weeks of a full moon…
When states rights are claimed based on a grossly distorted, misapplied definition of “pollution”, then everybody’s rights are endangered. The proper use of language is endangered. The standard of honesty is endangered. The standard of truth is endangered.
California has polluted the definition of “pollution”, and so they are the biggest polluters of all.
A 50mpg fleet average is fantasy. I know electric cars are to be factored in ( if only people would buy them ) but for gas cars, coming anywhere close to 50 mpg is only possible in vehicles that are really close to, but not quite a car.
There are some compacts that get 50 mpg, but stay tuned on the rest. We are at the threshhold of a doubling of gas engine fuel efficiency.
I would like to know how this doubling would occur. Yes, some very small lightweight cars get close to 50mpg but that’s just it, every car sold would have to be like that.
The typical gas engine converts ~22% of the fuel’s energy to motive power. Mazda’s new “SkyActiv” engine is 27% efficient. Next year they will introduce their second generation engine that converts at 44% efficiency. They’ve announced that they’ll be working on a third-generation engine that will convert at 56%.
Toyota has a new engine, also coming out next year, that will be 40%-41% efficient. This is how it will be done.
Clear disruption of interstate commerce by California. Turn it off.