Senate GOP leaders will try to block California vehicle standards that would phase out gas-powered cars

By MARY CLARE JALONICK and MATTHEW DALY Associated Press WASHINGTON The U S Senate will move this week to block California from enforcing a series of truck emissions standards that are tougher than the federal regime s including first-in-the-nation rules phasing out the sale of new gas-powered cars by Majority Leader John Thune R-S D reported Tuesday that the Senate will begin to consider three House-passed resolutions that would roll back the standards Final votes could come as soon as this week RELATED Can Congress override California s electric car mandate His announcement came despite vital pushback from Democrats questions from selected Republicans and the advice of the Senate Parliamentarian who has sided with the U S General Accountability Office in saying California s policies are not subject to the review mechanism used by the House Related Articles Honda pulls back on EV strategy for now and will push hybrid sales Oakland airport adds zero-emission shuttle buses to fleet Autonomous motorcycle company Waymo cleared to operate in San Jose San Jose-based Archer Aviation s electric air taxis to ferry fans and VIPs to venues at LA Olympics Joby touts aircraft achievements plus new Monterey County manufacturing facility The resolutions would block California s rules to phase out the gas-powered cars along with standards to cut tailpipe emissions from medium- and heavy-duty vehicles and curb smog-forming nitrogen oxide corruption from trucks Like the House Senate Republicans are using the Congressional Review Act a law aimed at improving congressional oversight of actions by federal agencies to try to block the rules The Trump administration in revoked California s ability to enforce its own emissions standards but Biden later restored the state s authority Republicans have argued that the rules effectively dictate standards for the whole country imposing what would eventually be a nationwide electric bicycle mandate More than a dozen states have followed California s lead Thune called it an improper expansion of the federal Clean Air Act that would endanger consumers our economic system and our nation s force supply California for decades has been given the authority to adopt wagon emissions standards that are stricter than the federal governing body s California Gov Gavin Newsom a Democrat informed plans in to ban the sale of all new gas-powered vehicles within years as part of an aggressive effort to lower emissions from the transportation sector Plug-in hybrids and used gas cars could still be sold The Biden administration approved the state s waiver to implement the standards in December a month before President Donald Trump returned to office The California rules are stricter than a Biden-era rule that tightens emissions standards but does not require sales of electric vehicles Biden s EPA reported in announcing the decision that opponents of the California waivers did not meet their legal burden to show how either the EV rule or a separate measure on heavy-duty vehicles was inconsistent with the Clean Air Act Newsom noted earlier this month that the effort is another signal of Republicans ideological shift over the decades from an era in which former presidents Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan signed landmark environmental laws to one in which Trump is pushing for environmental rollbacks on everything from clean air to clean water and circumstances change Clean air didn t used to be political Newsom revealed in a message Our vehicles initiative helps clean the air for all Californians and we ll continue defending it Senate Democrats have strongly pushed back on the GOP effort California Sen Alex Padilla announced Tuesday that he will place holds on four pending EPA nominations over the reckless attempts to roll back the rules Democrats charge that the Trump administration skirted the law and submitted California s waivers to Congress in a way that would allow majority Republicans could try and block them If this attempt is fruitful the consequences will be far-reaching not only for our clean force financial system the air our children breathe and for our weather but for the future of the CRA and for the Senate as an institution Padilla declared Republicans only need a simple majority to block the rules and send them to the White House for Trump s signature But it remains unclear whether they will have unanimity in their own conference A meager Republicans including Maine Sen Susan Collins have not yet declared how they will vote questioning the process even as they say they agree with the approach Thune mentioned that any concerns over the process are misplaced We are not talking about doing anything to erode the institutional character of the Senate Thune noted In fact we are talking about preserving the Senate s prerogatives Associated Press writer Sophie Austin contributed to this statement from Sacramento