Washington State's crusade against gas powered vehicles suffered a major blow last week after both chambers of the United States Congress took pivotal votes.  The vote targeted a waiver that was granted to California that would ban the sale of gas powered vehicles in the state by 2035.

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If you're wondering why overturning a California waiver matters in Washington State, I'll tell you, but first, a little background.  In 1959 California passed a law establishing control over motor vehicle emissions by establishing air quality standards.  That law predated the federal Clean Air Act (originally called the Air Quality Act) by 8 years, and the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) by 11 years.

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As a result, California was granted a waiver by the EPA allowing them to set stricter emissions standards.  California is the only state that was granted this privilege as they were the only one to have a preexisting law.  Each new standard created would new another waiver.  As of this writing, California has been granted over 100 waivers by the EPA.  A provision under the Clean Air Act (section 177) was added in 1977 allowing other states to "link" themselves to California's waivers.

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Washington State became one of eleven states (as well as Washington D.C.) to pass laws allowing them to link to California standards.  One such link was to the banning of the sale of gas powered vehicles.  Washington State's phasing out process was set to begin with 2026 model year cars and achieving a complete ban on in-state sales by 2035.  An interesting side note, that group accounts for 40% of the nation's total car sales.  That's 40% of the market banning gas powered vehicles.

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Last week all of that was upended when the U.S. Senate followed the lead of the house of Representatives and overturned the Golden State's EPA waiver.  The full fallout has yet to be determined as court challenges are sure to be filed, but Washington State Governor Bob Ferguson wasted no time in reacting.

Today’s decision by Congress is brazenly out of step with the law, science, and public will. For more than 50 years, states have possessed the ability to adopt stronger vehicle emissions standards to protect public health.

There are a couple of things off with the Gov's statement.

  1. California is the ONLY state that has had that ability, other states can only join with California, not create their own standards.
  2. It is not "out of step" with public will as 60% of Americans aren't in favor banning gas powered vehicles.
  3. If the science he is referring to is climate change, that "science" is still argued in many scientific circles.
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The Impact of the Vote on Washington State

The vote means that Washington State (for now) will not be able to ban the sale of gas powered vehicles.  It also means the State Legislature can't pass it's own law because they don't have the authority.

...It Ain't Over Yet

Congress' action becomes official once President Trump affixes his signature to the bottom.  Once that occurs California plans to file a lawsuit.  When that plays out we will know for sure where California's authority stands.

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There might not be an entity happier to see the waiver overturned than auto dealers.  The amount of money dealers and auto makers have lost since the EV push began has been staggering.  It's been so rough that many manufacturers have begun pulling back on their EV plans.  The future of the EV push (and consumer choice) may very well end up in front of the Supreme Court.

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