Republicans’ illegal dirty air bill signed, setting up legal fight with California

Republicans have used the Congressional Review Act to roll back California’s states’ right to protect its own residents’ lungs and pocketbooks with better pollution rules.

But here’s the thing: Congress doesn’t have that authority because that’s not how the Congressional Review Act works, so the republican party is once again just letting everyone know that it wants to poison Americans and raise their fuel costs, no matter the legality of doing so.

Update, June 12: Mr. Donald Trump has now placed his childish chickenscratch onto the illegal resolution, setting up yet another legal fight with California.

We’ve heard plenty of stories recently about how the senile felon squatting in the White House wants to harm Americans. But in the last hundred-and-some days of the exact kind of incompetent flailing that anyone with half a brain expected out of him, relatively less attention has been paid to the attempts of republicans in Congress to poison Americans.

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Well, they decided to jump into the spotlight and remind everyone just how bad the entire party is, as republicans in Congress passed a bill to increase pollution and fuel costs for California and 11 other states.

Both the House and Senate narrowly passed the resolutions, led by republicans and with only a smattering of Democratic votes – including Sen. Slotkin of Michigan, who voted for the measure despite the harm it will bring to the auto industry that is so important in her state which will be made less relevant globally as it retreats in the face of rising competition from China; and Reps. Whitesides and Correa of California, both of whom who voted to harm their own state and restrict its freedoms, and who represent areas around LA, which suffers from high pollution.

Then the bill today reached the desk of a convicted felon who is Constitutionally barred from holding office in the US, where he marked it with his chicken-scratch, as he promised the oil industry he would do in exchange for a billion dollars in bribes (which he only received a fraction of).

How republicans are attacking clean air this time

The measure came in the form of three Congressional Review Act (CRA) actions withdrawing three of California’s “waivers” from the EPA, even though the CRA does not apply to the waivers.

For more than half a century, California has asked for and been granted this waiver that allows it to set its own emissions rules. Other states can follow California’s rules (and around 11 states do so, though that amount differs for each rule), as long as they do so exactly, and as long as those rules are stronger than the national ones.

It has this unique authority because California had its own Clean Air Act before the federal Clean Air Act was passed, and because the state had a unique problem with smog at the time and needed stricter rules than the rest of the country. So a carveout was made in the federal law in recognition of this.

California’s clean air laws have been effective in reducing pollution, with vehicle-based pollutants dropping by 98% in the last 50 years. But of course, there’s still more to be done, as the LA area remains one of the smoggiest in the country due to factors including geography, high car dependency, heavy shipping traffic, and a lack of public transitt.

Despite the protestations of industry at the time and since, these rules have not made it impossible for them to operate, or sell cars, or profit from selling cars, in California or any other states that follow its rules.

California’s newest set of rules would save Californians, and the residents of other states who follow them, hundreds of billions of dollars on health, fuel, and maintenance costs through 2050 by encouraging electrification – and of course will save thousands of lives due to pollution reductions. Republicans targeted not just California’s regulation on light duty vehicles (ACC II), but also some other truck emissions rules (the ACT and HD low-NOx Omnibus rules).

So, the republicans have declared they want to end California’s progress in protecting its own residents, and the restidents of 11 other states. Despite the massive improvement in health and air quality, and reduction in health costs as a result, republicans are once again making it clear that they favor poisoning Americans, so much so that they’ll even try illegal actions to do it.

The CRA can’t be used this way, and republicans know it

The problem with using the Congressional Review Act in this situation is that it is doubly illegal to do. The CRA gives Congress the authority to roll back government agency actions, like those of the EPA, but it has been rarely used since its passing, since doing so results in a dysfunctional government and an unpredictable business environment.

But the CRA has a time limit, and Congress must act to reverse these rules within 60 days. The EPA approved California’s waiver on December 18, 2024, which is more than 60 days ago; therefore, we are past the deadline where the CRA can be used.

Further, even if it were within 60 days, the CRA can’t be used to reject California’s waiver, because it isn’t a “rule.” The CRA only allows Congress to change “rules,” and the waiver isn’t a rule itself; it’s just EPA telling California that it can set its own rules. Both the Senate Parliamentarian and the Government Accountability Office (the real government office that holds government to account, unlike Elon Musk’s fake and redundant “Department of Government Efficiency” advisory board), along with many, many others have recognized that this is the case, and Congress knows it. But hey, at least they have the oil companies on their side.

So, Congress’ action here is illegal, and doubly so, because the waiver is not a rule, and it is outside of the 60 day window. This action is also dangerous to your health, exacerbates climate change, and will raise Americans’ fuel costs and cede ground to China in the changing global auto industry.

Notably, at least one republican Senator, Mike Lee of Utah, correctly acknowledged that this is an illegal action, stating clearly that “California’s CAA federal preemption waivers cannot be reviewed under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) because the waiver granted by EPA is not a rule as that term is defined in the CRA.” However, regardless of publicly acknowledging that this cannot be done in a document that is still up on his own website, Lee still voted for it anyway.

Despite illegality, republicans still agitate for dirty air

They know that this method of revocation has no legal backing – but it still went through with it anyway, impotently screaming from the rafters “WE WANT TO KILL YOU!!!”… which apparently some people still need to hear.

But if republicans know this is illegal, why did they do it? There are likely a number of reasons:

• To avoid the filibuster, which would give Democrats a chance to stand up for clean air, and which is not allowed for CRA actions (at least, within the 60 day window… which we are outside of, so that’s another way republicans are acting illegally).
• To avoid having to amend or repeal the Clean Air Act, which would likely raise more eyebrows from the few republican voters with any remaining rationality or self-interest. This action is harder to understand and therefore more likely to go under the radar.
• To show to their oil donors that they are aligned in their mission to harm life on earth.
• Likely as another meaningless entry into the republican culture war, where the party starts ridiculous fights over nothing in order to stop or distract from positive motion on changes that might help alleviate some of the plight republicans are constantly trying to force on Americans.
• Because they’ve packed the courts with enough partisan operatives who are willing to ignore the law that they think this has a chance of still going through.

California pledges response to protect clean air

California already announced that it will respond with legal action – but despite that republicans’ action here is illegal, the CRA also claims that it is not subject to judicial review, which is a violation of the checks and balances enshrined in the Constitution.

California could alternately seek to achieve the same goals through other measures that have no Congressional oversight, such as charging higher registration fees for gasoline-powered vehicles (something which many states, including California, already stupidly do against electric cars, at the behest of, once again, the oil industry – and yes, republicans want to do this federally, too).

To this end, it has already formed a coalition with 11 other states to expand clean cars in the face of these attacks.

For its part, the California Air Resources Board, the organization responsible for California’s regulations, said “CARB will continue its mission to protect the public health of Californians impacted by harmful air pollution” after the House’s initial CRA vote. So, we hope that CARB will continue to act within the law, and ignore Congress’ violent action opposing clean air.

And California Governor Gavin Newsom reacted, stating “This Senate vote is illegal. Republicans went around their own parliamentarian to defy decades of precedent. We won’t stand by as Trump Republicans make America smoggy again — undoing work that goes back to the days of Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan — all while ceding our economic future to China.“

Who even supports this? Polluters, of course

Meanwhile, doctors, nurses, scientists, environmental groups, many businesses, and the vast majority of people who have lungs generally support the strongest regulation possible.

More than 100 clean air groups sent a letter supporting the waiver in the face of republican attacks on your health… and another one led by the American Lung Association, and another one led by the Natural Resources Defense Council, and another one led by the Coalition for Sensible Safeguards. But who listens to those idiots when there’s oil donor money at stake?

A few of the usual suspects did step in to show their support for this attack. The auto lobbyist that represents virtually every car company, which calls itself the “Alliance for Automotive Innovation” despite routinely opposing electrification efforts, came out in favor of ending these clean air rules. This is despite the weasel who runs the organization, John Bozzella, appearing on stage to give a speech when the EPA implemented rules with similar goals on a national level.

Bozzella has long stated that he thinks California and the EPA should have the same set of rules – but his organization is the one that originally lobbied Mr. Trump, during his first period squatting in the White House, to shatter the single national standard that had been set up under President Obama, opening this Pandora’s Box to begin with. And in case you need a reminder, California ended up winning that fight, which somebody predicted well ahead of time.

And don’t forget: the Alliance Against Automotive Innovation’s opposition to EVs will signal the final nail in the coffin for the US auto industry. China is getting great at building EVs, to the point that other nations are desperately trying to put up barriers to stop them. But those barriers haven’t worked, and they won’t work. The only thing that will work is getting more serious about EVs, and trying to stop EVs from flourishing ain’t it.

The dealer lobby, NADA, also reached out to us to let us know that they support this legislation that will kill Americans and cost them money. They apparently appreciate Congress’ attempt to reduce Americans’ choice to breathe clean air, and to force death and sickness upon them.

And, of course, the oil industry, responsible for untold death and destruction, has also arranged itself on the side of this illegal action to poison Americans and raise their fuel costs, alongside republicans in Congress. What a surprise.

We, at least, know what side we’re on.

Another thing republicans are trying to kill is the the rooftop solar credit, which means you could have only until the end of this year to install rooftop solar on your home before the cost of doing so goes up by an average of ~$10,000. So if you want to go solar, get started now, because these things take time and the system needs to be active before you file for the credit.

To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. It has hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.