WASHINGTON (KGO) — Congressional Republicans are ramping up efforts to undo one of California’s most ambitious climate policies: a plan to end the sale of new gas-powered vehicles by 2035.
On Thursday, the U.S. House voted 246-164 to pass a resolution to override California’s policy. The move directly challenges a waiver the Environmental Protection Agency granted to the state last December. Under the Clean Air Act, the state is able to set stricter vehicle emissions standards than federal policy with permission from the EPA. Since the Golden State approved these rules in 2022, eleven other states have agreed to adopt similar policies and make the gradual switch to emissions-free vehicles only.
RELATED: In push for zero emissions, California bans sales of new gasoline-powered cars by 2035
It’s unclear if the measure will clear the Senate, where its parliamentarian – the upper chamber’s nonpartisan rules authority – already declared that lawmakers cannot claw back this regulation under the Congressional Rules Act (CRA). That tool allows Congress to reverse certain regulations with a simple majority vote in both the House and Senate. Both the parliamentarian and the Government Accountability Office, which issues legal opinions, said the CRA cannot be used to revoke the EPA’s waiver in this case.
U.S. Rep. Kevin Mullin, D-Daly City, defended the state’s right to create stricter emission standards.
“The consequences of this are real. Toxic air pollution causes asthma, heart disease and contributes to over 100,000 deaths in America every year,” he said. “We have a moral duty to protect our residents from unnecessary toxic air pollution and environmental harm.”
Federal numbers put California second only to Texas when it comes to transportation-related carbon dioxide emissions.
But GOP lawmakers, including Representatives Jay Obernolte, R-Big Bear Lake, and Kevin Kiley, R-Rocklin, argued the policy is an overreach. They claimed it limits consumer choice and burdens automakers with the challenge of meeting different standards for different states.
“I happen to drive an EV myself. It works well for where I live and for my lifestyle. But I would never think to use the coercive powers of government to impose my personal preferences as a consumer on everyone else,” Kiley said. “It puts manufacturers in a dilemma if they have to manufacture one truck for one state.”
Environmental experts pushed back on that argument. UC Berkeley Earth Sciences Professor Ron Cohen warned that pulling back support for electric vehicle incentives could jeopardize the U.S. auto industry’s future.
“We’re in the midst of transitioning to an all-electric future,” he said. “Anything that slows down that transition and disrupts it and makes it less predictable, makes it more expensive for us to think through and more disruptive.”
RELATED: California leads the way in zero-emission transportation, but there are still challenges to overcome
Cohen said if this ultimately makes it through Congress and is signed by the president, the consequences will be broader than just environmental harm.
“California has been a pioneer in creating the electric vehicle industry in many ways throughout the world,” Cohen said. “It was California regulations that provided incentives to build electric vehicles. And so putting an end to those incentives, now, when China and Europe and other countries are so deeply invested in an all-electric future, puts the United States economy at risk of a car industry that will no longer be successful in the future.”
Governor Gavin Newsom issued a statement after the vote, criticizing the move as partisan.
“Trump Republicans are hellbent on making California smoggy again. Clean air didn’t used to be political.” Newsom said.
The measure now heads to the U.S. Senate, where its path forward remains uncertain. A spokesperson for Senator Adam Schiff told ABC7 that if the Senate proceeds, Republicans will be “going against the rulings of the Senate Parliamentarian, the GAO, and nearly 60 years of U.S. environmental policy.”
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