I have often noted that perhaps the single greatest threat to California’s prosperity is the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and its capitalism-crushing rules based on hoax science and pet theories.
Three weeks ago, several automakers switched gears and are now siding with the Trump administration, which intends to nix the adoption of stringent and ridiculous emission starts originally established by California and later affirmed by Team Obama.
General Motors, Fiat Chrysler, Toyota, and many others in the auto industry are siding with the Trump administration in a lawsuit over whether California has the right to set its own greenhouse gas emissions and fuel economy standards.The three companies, plus a trade association called the Association of Global Automakers, said Monday they plan to intervene in a lawsuit filed by the Environmental Defense Fund against the administration, which is planning to roll back national pollution and gas mileage standards enacted under the Obama administration.In the past, most of the industry had taken the stance that it wanted one standard, and it preferred that California and the Trump administration work out differences to develop it. Negotiations haven’t gone anywhere, and in September, President Donald Trump announced his administration would seek to revoke California’s congressionally granted authority to set standards that are stricter than those issued by federal regulators.The automakers decided to intervene in the lawsuit over the issue of California’s right to set standards. By intervening, the automakers changed their stance to siding with the Trump administration against the state. The automakers’ group, called the “Coalition for Sustainable Automotive Regulation,” also includes Nissan, Hyundai, Kia, Isuzu, Maserati, McLaren, Aston-Martin, and Ferrari.
Subsequently, California’s government announced it will halt all purchases of new vehicles from the automakers that backed the White House’s decision to strip the state of its power to regulate tailpipe emissions.
The California government will bar all state agencies from purchasing any further vehicles from these companies, the New York Times reported. The ban won’t apply to public-safety vehicles.“Carmakers that have chosen to be on the wrong side of history will be on the losing end of California’s buying power,” Gov. Newsom said in an official statement on Monday, according to the New York Times….A General Motors spokeswoman told the New York Times the ban would make it difficult for California to meet its environmental goals. She said California is reducing its choices for “affordable, American-made electric vehicles.”
Now, CARB members have announced they are boycotting the Los Angeles Auto Show.
“For the first time in more than 50 years the California Air Resources Board will not be attending the LA Auto Show. Each year, top CARB officials have taken a company-by-company tour led by the Global Automakers and the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers to see new vehicles and meet with company executives. This year CARB will not take that annual tour,” CARB said in a statement.“The decision not to attend the LA Auto Show is a direct response to the action taken last month by 15 automakers, including GM and Toyota, and the National Automobile Dealers Association, to side with the Trump administration in its effort to eviscerate California’s authority under the Clean Air Act to set its own vehicle emissions standards.”
I suspect the boycotted car manufacturers will be fine. Californians are fleeing the state in increasing numbers, talking their purchasing power and their choice with them. The progressives that remain in the state can enjoy their virtue-signalling, high prices, and loss of the electricity needed to energize their “green” cars.
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