The House Republicans voted Thursday to block the mandate of the California electric vehicle, which includes a plan to eliminate the sale of gas vehicles only by 2035.
They were joined by a few dozen Democrats, including representative Lou Correa, D-Santa Ana. Correa is the only Democrat in Orange County who took on the side of his colleagues through the aisle on the measure.
“As Improve, we all want to do our part to protect the environment. This is why for decades, I have been driving a hybrid car,” said Correa. “As a legislator, my main job is to listen to my neighbors and respect their choices to do what is best for their families and their situation.”
“It means,” continued Correa, “protecting consumer rights from driving the whole vehicle makes sense for them and their portfolios”.
Considered a revolutionary mandate, California’s plan to eliminate gas vehicles obtained an exemption by the US Environmental Protection Agency during the Biden administration.
According to exemptions sculpted in a law of 1967, California has the capacity to set its own standards of vehicle emissions, but must do so thanks to EPA derogations. California has obtained more than 100 federal exemptions for new and modified vehicle emissions from 2024, according to a Congress report.
The bill was adopted by the Chamber on Thursday, May 1, during a 246-164 vote. The representative Young Kim, the only republican who represents a district of Orange County, voted in favor.
“The Republicans are again in the process of making Smoggy in California – and that could not be clearer than with their efforts to the Chamber to illegally cancel the protections of the law on the own air of our state,” said Governor Gavin Newsom on social networks, referring to the slogan “Make America Great Again” of the President Donald Trump “.” Californians or from the cave to large polluters. ”
But representative John Joyce, a Pennsylvania Republican who is the author of the bill, said that he was proud to see the bipartite vote.
“The Congress cannot allow California to define national policy,” said Joyce, urging the Senate and the President alongside “protecting the open road for the American people”.
He now goes to the Senate, but it is not yet clear if Congress even has the power to revoke the exemption from EPA. The parliamentarian of the Senate and the government of the government (an independent and non -partisan agency that provides Congress services) said that the Congress did not have such authority.
“The authority of California regulates its own pollution is devoted to federal law and has been approved several times on a bipartite basis,” said California senator Adam Schiff. “I will defend the power of California to protect its own residents and remind my colleagues from the Senate the dangerous implications for this attack on state rights.”
Trump, when he campaigned last year, promised to prevent states from banning gas vehicles.
As for the 2026 of all this, Correa represents a solidly blue neighborhood.
The 46th District of the California Congress, centered in the County of Orange, includes communities in Anaheim, Fullerton and Santa Ana. According to the latest report by the Secretary of State of California (February 10), democrats represent 46.79% of the district registered voters, the Republicans represent 23.8% of registered voters and 23.52% are not a preference for the party.
Correa won the re -election in November with 63.4% of the vote.
This week too, Correa has signed a trial that seeks to prevent the Trump administration from sharing the information of IRS taxpayers with the federal immigration authorities.
Originally published:
California Daily Newspapers
