The U.S. Senate voted last week to block California’s landmark mandate phasing out gas-powered cars, dealing a substantial blow to the state’s aggressive transition to electric vehicles.
The decision to revoke three waivers that the Biden administration granted to California could upend the state’s decades-long efforts and authority to clean up its air pollution — the worst in the nation — and reduce greenhouse gases that cause climate change.
Last week’s move by the Senate — following a vote in the House last month — sets the stage for what is likely to become a high-stakes legal and political battle between California and the Trump administration.
Republicans in the Senate and some Democrats in the House who voted in favor of blocking California’s electric car mandate — along with two rules cleaning up diesel trucks — said they’re costly and impractical, and prevent consumers and businesses from making their own choices.
But Democrats in the Senate who voted against them, including California’s Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff, said the tactic used by Senate Republicans is illegal and that the state’s mandate is vital to cleaning up polluted air.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has made the adoption of zero-emission…
