I thought the current administration, and the republican party in general, were for smaller federal government and giving more autonomy to the states, eg. Shutting down the federal department of education since the states can manage their own education systems independently.
Now they're trying to step on state based decisions?
Is it purely an "I like this but I don't like that" decision process?
xenadu02 · 1h ago
Yes it is.
The great irony of the party of small government is how over-reaching and heavily involved they want the Federal Government to be for the things they don't like.
floxy · 2h ago
This is due to the heavy lobbying on the part of the existing automobile manufacturers combined with the fact that meeting the goals would seem to be a big disruption for the industry.
..which includes companies like Hyundai, Kia, General Motors, Ford, Honda, etc. (which are currently the biggest players in the EV market behind Tesla in the U.S.), and of course the usual players without much headway in the EV space: Toyota, Subaru, Mazda, etc..
The ZEV sales requirements start with the 2026 model year, and steadily increase:
> “Congress, not California, is the only body that can regulate the interstate automotive market,” Joyce said during a Monday meeting of the House Rules Committee
> Yet the Senate parliamentarian, the nonpartisan arbiter of the upper chamber’s rules and procedures, ruled last month that the waiver is not a regulation subject to the Congressional Review Act.
> Regardless of action on Capitol Hill, the EPA could revoke California’s waivers on its own.
So the House voted to block this but it's pretty murky whether congress has such an authority, but the EPA _does_ have such an authority ... but why does any federal body have this authority? I can see how e.g. if CA attempts to outlaw residents from buying cars in NV, that this would be an inter-state commerce issue. But if a CA resident wants to buy a car (from a dealership) in CA, why shouldn't CA be able to set requirements about that car?
floxy · 2h ago
>but why does any federal body have this authority?
The current "Advanced Clean Cars II" is operating under a federal EPA waiver for California and 12 other states. The EPA regulates sources of pollution, which includes internal combustion automobiles. The current waiver allows California (and the other states with identical legislation) to have stricter pollution standards for cars than the rest of the U.S..
California could institute a special sales tax on internal combustion engine vehicles and raise the rate on gas taxes without federal interference.
mullingitover · 3h ago
That ship has sailed. There was a Supreme Court judgment log before we were born that decided that a farmer growing something on their own land for their own consumption was affecting interstate commerce because it was affecting demand in other states. Numerous cases since have further nailed down the claim that basically any economic activity is governed by federal law.
metalcrow · 34m ago
Strangely, this isn't true in other supreme court rulings, National Pork Producers Council v. Ross for example. The commerce clause is powerful but there are rules around it.
It’s a dumb move. For starters, there was virtually zero chance California would have followed through with it.
And then you have the fact that if California really wanted to get rid of ICE cars, there are plenty of other things they can do that are worse than this. Astronomical gasoline taxes, registration fees, licensing requirements, etc. Requiring extraordinarily costly seismic retrofits on oil refineries. Require huge bonds on fuel stations to cover potential cleanup costs, etc.
tyleo · 3h ago
This quickly fell from the front page as a lot of articles related to anything congress or US president have recently.
It’s really annoying. I want to have the discussion. There’s some interesting things to understand here like whether congress should be able to block state regulations. If they can’t is that power in the EPA?
It’s disappointing to me that we can’t even have conversations about how governments should work because people are so worried about having their feelings hurt they flag everything :/
melling · 3h ago
How does this affect carbon credit sales? Tesla makes a lot of money selling credits.
valunord · 4h ago
Thanks goodness!
WalterGR · 3h ago
Why?
62951413 · 2h ago
Not every SWE working in the Bay Area can afford a $1.5M house just to charge his car. Not to mention that the car would be twice as expensive (e.g. top Elantra 2025 trim at $30K vs Model 3 at $50K+).
Now they're trying to step on state based decisions?
Is it purely an "I like this but I don't like that" decision process?
The great irony of the party of small government is how over-reaching and heavily involved they want the Federal Government to be for the things they don't like.
https://www.autosinnovate.org/posts/blog/repeal-gas-vehicle-...
https://www.autosinnovate.org/posts/press-release/house-repe...
See the membership here:
https://www.autosinnovate.org/about/our-members
..which includes companies like Hyundai, Kia, General Motors, Ford, Honda, etc. (which are currently the biggest players in the EV market behind Tesla in the U.S.), and of course the usual players without much headway in the EV space: Toyota, Subaru, Mazda, etc..
The ZEV sales requirements start with the 2026 model year, and steadily increase:
> Yet the Senate parliamentarian, the nonpartisan arbiter of the upper chamber’s rules and procedures, ruled last month that the waiver is not a regulation subject to the Congressional Review Act.
> Regardless of action on Capitol Hill, the EPA could revoke California’s waivers on its own.
So the House voted to block this but it's pretty murky whether congress has such an authority, but the EPA _does_ have such an authority ... but why does any federal body have this authority? I can see how e.g. if CA attempts to outlaw residents from buying cars in NV, that this would be an inter-state commerce issue. But if a CA resident wants to buy a car (from a dealership) in CA, why shouldn't CA be able to set requirements about that car?
The current "Advanced Clean Cars II" is operating under a federal EPA waiver for California and 12 other states. The EPA regulates sources of pollution, which includes internal combustion automobiles. The current waiver allows California (and the other states with identical legislation) to have stricter pollution standards for cars than the rest of the U.S..
California could institute a special sales tax on internal combustion engine vehicles and raise the rate on gas taxes without federal interference.
And then you have the fact that if California really wanted to get rid of ICE cars, there are plenty of other things they can do that are worse than this. Astronomical gasoline taxes, registration fees, licensing requirements, etc. Requiring extraordinarily costly seismic retrofits on oil refineries. Require huge bonds on fuel stations to cover potential cleanup costs, etc.
It’s really annoying. I want to have the discussion. There’s some interesting things to understand here like whether congress should be able to block state regulations. If they can’t is that power in the EPA?
It’s disappointing to me that we can’t even have conversations about how governments should work because people are so worried about having their feelings hurt they flag everything :/