The GOP-led chamber voted 222-190 — with the support of more than a half-dozen Democrats — to alter the Clean Air Act so that the Environmental Protection Agency is prohibited from allowing states to implement rules that directly or indirectly curtail the sales of vehicles with internal combustion engines.
“This bill says the market is driven by what the consumer wants,” Rep. David Joyce, the Pennsylvania Republican who wrote the bills, told The Washington Times. “California and California’s regulations shouldn’t set the standards to impact the entire market.” “Congress acted to preserve California’s authority to regulate emissions from vehicles over 50 years ago and repeatedly ratified and strengthened that authority in subsequent enactments,” the White House Office of Management and Budget said.“The transportation sector is the single largest contributor of greenhouse gas emissions and other dangerous air pollution, but once again Republicans want to bury their heads in the sand and ignore reality,” said Rep.
Fourteen of the 17 states, predominantly Democrat-run states, are in the process of or have already adopted versions of the California rule.