Fossil Fuel Groups Ask SCOTUS to Overturn California’s Clean Car Waiver

by Lesley Clark (Politico Pro Climatewire) EPA allows California to set tougher emissions standards, which 17 other states have also adopted. -- Fossil fuel interests want the Supreme Court to review California's authority to set stricter emissions standards for cars and trucks than the federal government.

A petition to be filed Tuesday asks the high court to overturn an April ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The judges unanimously ruled that industry groups and a coalition of Republican-led states had failed to show that a favorable ruling would fix the injuries they claimed from California's waiver.

The petitioners to the Supreme Court include the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM), the Domestic Energy Producers Alliance, Energy Marketers of America, the National Association of Convenience Stores, and a number of biofuel and agricultural organizations.

They argue that the D.C. Circuit — which found that the challengers lacked standing to bring their claim — failed to consider the substance of the case. The challengers ask the Supreme Court to review the merits and find that California’s waiver does not empower the state to regulate vehicle greenhouse gas emissions, impose electric vehicle mandates or limit consumer access to internal combustion engines. READ MORE

Excerpt from UCLA Law: California has applied its own motor-vehicle emissions regulations for more than 50 years under the federal Clean Air Act, which carves out an exception for the Golden State and directs the EPA to approve those standards except under the narrowest of circumstances. That waiver has helped position California as an environmental leader in reducing air pollution and a bellwether for the auto industry.

In May 2022, a group of Republican-led states filed a lawsuit that claims California’s waiver puts it on an uneven playing field compared to other states, in violation of the Constitution. They also contend that the authority to grant that waiver is preempted by the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975.

This brief responds that nothing in the 1975 Act preempts these air emission standards and that the legislative record shows Congress’ intent to preserve emission-reduction regulations. The brief also argues that GOP-led states are pushing a novel interpretation of the equal-sovereignty doctrine that would radically limit Congress’ legislative power. Download PDF. READ MORE

Excerpt from ConservAmerica: ConservAmerica filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court last week in the case of Ohio v Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), urging the Court to review EPA’s decision to allow California to implement a de facto electric vehicle mandate.

“However you feel about electric vehicles, the push to decarbonize the transportation sector should not come through mandates that discourage the development of other technologies,” said ConservAmerica Vice President of Policy Todd Johnston. “If our goal is to reduce total emissions from the transportation sector, then one cannot simply focus on one part of the equation, such as miles per gallon or tailpipe emissions.”

ConservAmerica previously released a report that looked at a cross-section of studies, including ones from MIT and the International Energy Agency, on the environmental impacts of different low-carbon vehicle technologies over their entire lifecycle ⎯ a perspective often overlooked by policymakers. The report concluded that when the full lifecycle of a vehicle and its energy source is considered — including greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions during fuel production, manufacturing, operation, and disposal stages — advanced internal combustion engine vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles are capable of achieving comparable reductions in GHG emissions as similarly equipped, full battery electric vehicles.

“California is out of step with the rest of the country and the needs of most Americans,” Johnston continued. “To ensure the most efficient technologies reach the market, and to be good stewards of the environment, we need to be focused on encouraging competition and innovation, not policies that undermine free markets.”

To provide for uniform, national vehicle emissions standards, when Congress passed the Clean Air Act, it restricted states from adopting their own emission requirements; however, a provision written into the law allows California to apply for a waiver of federal preemption to address localized pollution concerns. Once granted, other states may adopt similar standards. READ MORE