*{box-sizing:border-box}body{margin:0;padding:0}a[x-apple-data-detectors]{color:inherit!important;text-decoration:inherit!important}#MessageViewBody a{color:inherit;text-decoration:none}p{line-height:inherit}.desktop_hide,.desktop_hide table{mso-hide:all;display:none;max-height:0;overflow:hidden}.image_block img div{display:none}sub,sup{font-size:75%;line-height:0}#converted-body .list_block ol,#converted-body .list_block ul,.body [class~=x_list_block] ol,.body [class~=x_list_block] ul,u .body .list_block ol,u .body .list_block ul{padding-left:20px} @media (max-width:620px){.desktop_hide table.icons-outer{display:inline-table!important}.image_block div.fullWidth{max-width:100%!important}.mobile_hide{display:none}.row-content{width:100%!important}.stack .column{width:100%;display:block}.mobile_hide{min-height:0;max-height:0;max-width:0;overflow:hidden;font-size:0}.desktop_hide,.desktop_hide table{display:table!important;max-height:none!important}.reverse{display:table;width:100%}.reverse .column.first{display:table-footer-group!important}.reverse .column.last{display:table-header-group!important}.row-10 td.column.first .border,.row-12 td.column.first .border{padding:5px 5px 15px 25px}.row-10 td.column.last .border,.row-12 td.column.last .border,.row-14 td.column.last .border{padding:5px 20px 25px 5px}.row-14 td.column.first .border{padding:5px 5px 15px 25px;border-bottom:15px solid transparent}}

Technology

Technology

The Big Story

California claps back at Trump's overturning of EV mandate

California officials on Thursday filed their 26th lawsuit against the Trump administration, after the president signed resolutions overturning the Golden State’s landmark electric vehicle (EV) mandate.

© Noah Berger, Associated Press

“We made a promise that if the president attempted to illegally interfere with our clean air standards, we’d hold him accountable in court,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) said at a press conference announcing the lawsuit.

“Today, we are making good on that promise,” he added.

Bonta submitted the complaint in the Northern District of California together with his colleagues in Colorado, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.

He said he filed the lawsuit moments after Trump signed three congressional resolutions, which California regulations that had aimed to phase out gas-powered cars by 2035 — and then prompted 11 other states to follow suit.

Rather than directly overturning the rules, the resolutions revoked the Biden administration’s authorization of the Golden State’s policy. This action occurred via the Congressional Review Act (CRA), which enables the repeal of recently approved regulations with a simple majority.

“We refuse to let this unprecedented and illegal use of the CRA undermine the Clean Air Act waivers that give California the authority to enforce our own mission standards,” Bonta said.

The attorney general was referring to California’s unique ability to set stronger-than-federal standards through a 1970 Clean Air Act clause, written amid historic smog conditions in the Los Angeles area.

To do so, however, the Golden State must first apply to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for a waiver for each proposed rule — and only following that approval can other states adopt similar such thresholds.

The Hill's Sharon Udasin reports for

© The Hill