CA Gov: Our State Will Not Buy from Automakers That Backed Trump on Emissions

President Donald Trump has loosened Barack Obama-era environmental restrictions on car emissions, and it’s causing the state of California a great deal of angst.

Good.

As I wrote about in the Washington Times, California used to have the ability to set their own separate greenhouse-gas standards for vehicles.  But Congress set a national standard because it’s impractical for automakers to comply with 50 different sets of environmental regulations.  They’d given my former home state of California an exception because of their severe smog problem, which they described as a “compelling and extraordinary” conditions.  

But give California an inch, and they’ll take a mile. Instead of using this waiver to curtail smog, they used it to push their super liberal environmental agenda down the throats of all Californians.  

During Obama’s administration, California leveraged their size and power to influence the nationwide regulations. That meant that car prices went up and manufacturers sold Texans and Mississippians cars that met the California standards – whether they believed in the hocus pocus global warming or not. 

President Trump got rid of California special waiver, and now the state’s government leaders are pushing back.  According to the New York Times:

California’s government has hit back at automakers that sided with President Trump over the state on fuel efficiency standards, saying Sacramento will halt all purchases of new vehicles from General Motors, Toyota, Fiat Chrysler and other automakers that backed stripping California of its authority to regulate tailpipe emissions.

The ban, which the California governor, Gavin Newsom, plans to implement in January 2020, is the latest shot in the intensifying battle over climate change between Mr. Trump and the state, which he appears to relish antagonizing.

“Carmakers that have chosen to be on the wrong side of history will be on the losing end of California’s buying power,” Governor Newsom said in a statement on Monday.

Of course, this sort of petulance shows exactly what we’re dealing with here.  It’s not a desire for clean air and cars. It’s power.  It’s opposing Trump just for the sake of it.

“Removing vehicles like the Chevy Bolt and prohibiting G.M. and other manufacturers from consideration will reduce California’s choices for affordable, American-made electric vehicles and limit its ability to reach its goal of minimizing the state government’s carbon footprint, a goal that G.M. shares,” Jeannine Ginivan, a spokeswoman for G.M. said.

In other words, because of the government, California now has fewer options for low-cost, electric, clean vehicles?

Sounds about right.

If you were under the mistaken impression that liberals are all about “choice,” take note.

They truly want to shove their environmental pseudo-science down your throats and aren’t even trying to camouflage it anymore.

Hat Tip: The New York Times