In May, the Senate voted to revoke California’s Clean Cars II Waiver—one of the biggest clean air and public health victories in the past decade—through illegal use of the Congressional Review Act. Then, just a few weeks later, President Donald Trump finalized this into law by officially signing the resolution to overturn Advanced Clean Cars II, Advanced Clean Trucks, and the Heavy-Duty Omnibus waivers.
This isn’t about policy, it’s about punishment. The Trump Administration and Congressional Republicans launched a direct assault on California’s public health, state rights, and the clean air we breathe.
This comes after 50 years, eight presidents—Republicans and Democrats alike—upholding California’s right to set stricter emissions standards than the federal government. But now Trump is siding with polluters over people, making permanent a reckless decision that strips California the power to do more to clean our air and protect our health.
What are the Impacts of Overturning California’s Clean Air Waivers?
Strips eleven other states who were immediately ready to adopt California’s standards and stop selling new gas-powered cars by 2035, and prevents others who were heading there.
Keeps millions of Americans trapped in outdated, gas-powered vehicles that pollute our neighborhoods.
Increases health risks like asthma and heart disease, especially for low-income communities and communities of color already burdened by pollution.
These waivers will provide $12 billion in public health benefits by reducing premature deaths, hospitalizations, and lost workdays caused by the thousands of tons of fossil fuel emissions that cars release every year.
Undermines the electric vehicle market, delaying job creation and setting us backwards exactly at a time when we should be accelerating the transition and the rest of the world is advancing forward.
Because this was done through Congressional Review, similar laws are permanently blocked unless this action is overturned by the Supreme Court. And if the courts don’t stand by the law, we’ve lost a powerful tool in our clean energy transition for good.
But we can fight back. EnviroVoters has plans in place to defend our progress, and we need your help to get the resources to move forward.
It’s time to act quickly and decisively. Make a gift to our Defiance Alliance Fund and power our clean air defense.
“This is planned chaos, orchestrated by Big Oil and corporate polluters to keep us locked into a dangerous, polluting vehicle market when we need bold action the most. It’s a deliberate dismantling of clean air advancements that will cost lives and deepen our dependence on dirty energy,” said Mike Young, Executive Director at EnviroVoters.
This was a difficult blow, but the fight is far from over. California’s leadership is rising up to meet the moment. Attorney General Bonta has already announced a plan to fight back in court and hold the line against this attack. And state legislators are drafting bills right now to give California a pathway for similar emissions regulations that won’t need federal approval.
We’ve got a clear plan, hope, and vision for next steps—we just need political will from our leaders to act with urgency and defend California’s environmental progress.
Will you join the fight against environmental rollbacks and help us continue to push forward on climate progress?
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Now you can find out with our 2024 California Environmental Scorecard! Use it to see how California’s leadership scored, how many legislators take dirty oil money, and much more.
