The Feds are Right to Take Away California’s Waiver, but They Should Get Rid of All CAFE Standards Too

I’m a big fan of federalism and self-governance, but I support President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw California’s ability to set their own separate greenhouse-gas standards for vehicles.

While this might seem counterintuitive – why not let the states decide? – this is a slightly more complicated issue than the embittered social media posts indicate.  In fact, this isn’t about states’ rights at all.

We all know that it’s impractical for automakers to comply with 50 different sets of environmental regulations, so Congress set a national standard.  They gave my former home state of California an exception because of their severe smog problem, which they described as a “compelling and extraordinary” conditions.  I’d say.  In some places, it was hard to see your hand in front of your face.

But give California an inch, they’ll take a mile.  And that’s exactly what they did with this waiver.  Instead of using it to curtail smog, they used it to push their super liberal environmental agenda down the throats of all Californians.  The state’s greenhouse-gas rules are meant to solve the “climate change” crisis, not deal with smog.  

Fine.  People who live in California know what they’re getting into. That’s why my family and I got out of there, along with thousands of others who are participating in the great outward migration.

But during Barack 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. 

Please enjoy the rest of this article in the Washington Times here.

Image Credit: VCU Capital News Service on Flickr