Trump EPA Pick Eyes Review of California's Power to Regulate Emissions

Scott Pruitt, the Trump Administration's choice to head the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), stated in his confirmation hearing last month that the agency has overstepped its bounds. The former oil industry lawyer and current Oklahoma Attorney General stated that he believes in a "states' rights" approach to environmental regulation, but that he also plans to review California's ability to set it's own air quality and emissions standards.

Pruitt said during his hearing that he cannot commit to keeping in place a decades-old waiver that allows California to set their own auto emissions regulations that are stricter than anywhere else in the United States.

California has used this waiver for years to force automakers to build more fuel-efficient, sustainable vehicles.

The waiver, which is written into the Clean Air Act, was initially granted because California lawmakers feared the legislation would not go far enough when it came to cleaning air pollution created by traffic-educed smog in areas like the Los Angeles Basin. In 2009, after years of battling with federal regulators and car manufacturers, California officials and the Obama Administration agreed to expand the state's use of this waiver in a landmark effort to cut greenhouse gas emissions even further and fight climate change.

 If the Trump Administration is successful in eliminating California's waiver authority, it would be a major setback for the state's environmental policies. State Senate Leader Kevin de Leon said that, should the waiver not be renewed, the decision "will be met with full resistance up and down the state."

Pruitt is one of President Trump's most controversial Cabinet selections. A longtime ally of the oil and gas industries, he has sued the EPA 14 times since becoming the Attorney General of Oklahoma.