How the EPA’s environmental about-face could upend California’s climate efforts

Environmental Protection Agency Plans abolish or weaken More than two dozen regulations can directly combat California policies regarding air and water quality standards, electric vehicle programs, and efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions from planetary torture.

President Trump’s new EPA chief Lee Zeldin said the changes announced this week would aim to remove trillions of dollars in regulatory fees and hidden taxes.

But environmental groups quickly condemned the plan as a waiver of the EPA’s responsibility to Americans. In climate-conscious California, they say it could reverse decades of progress.

“It’s not just a step back, it’s a billiard ball that aims to advance for decades,” said Guillermo Ortiz, senior clean vehicle advocate for the National Defense Council of Natural Resources. “California’s leadership in clean energy and environmental justice is now under the siege of the federal government.”

exist 31 reconsidered projects The long-term conclusion of the EPA is that carbon dioxide emissions harm human health and welfare, and are officially called “Hazard DiscoveryFounded in 2009.

California has been actively working to curb cooperation₂including a national law, requires a 40% reduction in emissions by 2030 and 85% by 2045. The state’s goal is Carbon neutrality by 2045 – Five years ahead of the federal target set by the Biden administration.

Zeldin takes the harm discovery as the “holy grail of climate change religion.”

“We are bringing the dagger straight into the heart of climate change religion,” he said.

The EPA plan also targets the Clean Energy Plan, an Obama and Biden-era policy aimed at cutting emissions from power plants refueled by coal and gas, as well as mandatory Greenhouse gas report plan This forces about 8,000 large greenhouse gas emitters, such as power plants and factories, to report their emissions annually.

California is home to nearly 400 of these reporting facilities and has made benefits in reducing emissions in recent years. Facilities in the state report 92.1 million tons of companies₂ The same emissions in 2023, compared with 161 million tons a decade ago.

Ortiz said the possibility of abolishing such plans and potentially undermining hazard discoveries is similar to “denial of gravity concepts.”

“It’s not deregulation, it’s a scientific denial with a legal summary,” he said.

However, EPA is not only focusing on emissions from large power plants and oil and gas producers. The chopping block is also the rule that manages automobile emissions, the largest source of air pollution in the Golden State.

Among other changes, the EPA attempts to Termination criteria The light-colored, neutral and heavy-duty vehicles around are Biden’s electric vehicle authorizationthis sets a goal for electric vehicles to sell half of the cars in the United States by 2030.

Selding said the current federal regulations would impose more than $700 billion in regulatory and compliance costs, while the EV authorization deprives Americans of their ability to choose a car of their choice while increasing the cost of all products delivered by trucks.

California’s targets are more aggressive than the federal government, while Gov. Gavin Newsom’s mission Gas trucks are banned in 2035 – Trump administration’s actions have been Start to stop.

“California has been a leading country in promoting the clean transport industry and market,” said John Boesel, president of Clean Transportation’s nonprofit Calstart.

Boesel noted that the January EPA has failed to act on a plan called the plan Advanced Clean Fleet Ruleswhich will help eliminate heavy diesel trucks in the state.

But new changes could create more obstacles to California’s electric vehicle transition by potentially damaging federal tax benefits, hindering the expansion of national charging infrastructure and encouraging fossil fuel production.

“Develop regulations and set the direction for the future of the United States, a lot of hard work has made significant investments in a cleaner transportation future,” Boesel said. “This regulatory uncertainty will undermine a lot of investment and may prevent innovation.”

Mike Stoker, who served as the top official in the EPA’s California and Southwest Pacific region during the last Trump administration, has faded his impact on California, saying Golden State can continue to set higher standards than the federal government.

“Overall, most states in a truly powerful environment like California will exceed the EPA’s minimum standards,” he said, which is being regulated. ”

The goal is to eliminate expensive and time-consuming rules and regulations and ensure those that can still be supported by the best scientifically.

Stoke also said the deregulation announcement was not directed at electric vehicles, but was intended to let consumers decide the market.

“Their message is that they don’t want the government to do electric vehicles before the market really requires it,” he said.

NRDC’s Ortiz said, but federal rules do not exist. 31 regulatory actions have also taken place alongside efforts to lay off employees and cut California’s power to set tailpipe emissions. In addition, carbon dioxide and other pollutants are not considered in the state line.

“California’s climate goals and our air quality advancements have been the beacons of the world, and these EPA rules are like punching holes in that beacon,” Ortiz said. “We’re talking about Fresno’s asthma, we’re talking about wildfires, and we’re gradually eliminating the EV transition that is happening.”

The EPA’s program also targets other prevalent issues in California, including environmental justice, air and water quality standards. Selding said the agency attempted to end its weapons of environmental justice and diversity, equity and inclusion.

California, home to some of the world’s worst air quality, has been working to correct inequality for decades Disproportionate burden Through pollution, extreme heat, wildfire smoke and other environmental challenges, experts worry that changes at the federal level will exacerbate these problems.

Indeed, Selding said the agency will reconsider air toxic standards for coal-fired plants, and National environmental air quality standards Regulate six harmful pollutants. These pollutants include particulate matter 2.5 or smoky material released from vehicles, industrial chimneys and wildfires.

PM 2.5 is Top air quality issues After the fire in Los Angeles in January. Just a year ago, the Biden administration’s EPA Rules for tightening particulate matter Moving said it will prevent thousands of premature deaths.

More importantly, some countries Hard wins obtained with water quality EPA’s plan may be cancelled Modify the definition It applies to the “U.S. Water” of the Federal Clean Water Act of 1972.

These rules control water quality and emission requirements for farmers, landowners and businesses, which Serding said puts an inappropriate burden on Americans and increases the cost of doing business.

Opponents say that relaxing such guidelines could make water systems more vulnerable to hazardous pollutants and emissions, especially after a recent Supreme Court ruling, Limited federal wetland protection Promise property rights.

“We can’t sit by chance when the U.S. Supreme Court, now the federal government, takes the calculation steps to compromise the Federal Clean Water Act and its protections provided for decades,” state Sen. Ben Allen (D-Santa Monica said in a statement.

Allen Legislation has been introduced recently This will integrate previous federal protections cancelled by the Supreme Court into state law. He said the lack of these and other protections could threaten the health and well-being of millions of Californians.

But experts warn that the changes proposed by the EPA cannot be made unilaterally and said due process must include scientific and legal reasons for each decision, as well as listening and responding to public feedback. Many changes could face lengthy legal challenges from opposition groups.

Calstart’s Boesel said he remains optimistic that California will continue to make progress on climate change despite potential bumpy roads. But he stressed that it is important for the EPA to continue to demonstrate leadership globally and globally.

“The United States accounts for about 5% of the world’s population and generates nearly 20% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions,” he said. “So the United States really needs to be a global team player and do its best to avoid climate disasters.”