Court rejects challenge to California’s clean air rules trump said he’d kill
The US Supreme Court today rejected a bid by Ohio and other states to stop California from implementing its own clean air rules, a legal right that California has had since the 60s which Donald Trump has repeatedly tried and failed to remove.
Ever since the 1960s, California has been able to set its own clean air rules, as long as they are at least as strict as federal clean air rules. California was granted this waiver in the Clean Air Act as recognition of its unique air quality challenges.
When the link between gasoline-burning vehicles and smog was discovered, California was building its own clean air rules at the same time as the federal government was.
At the time (and still), Los Angeles was choked with smog. The city is built around car transportation (after public transit in the city was destroyed by literal cartoon villians), has unique geography which traps smog above most of its population, and is also currently home to the largest container ports in America, through which ~40% of the country’s containerized traffic now comes.
The central valley of California is also home to a lot of smog – with the most agriculturally productive land in the country producing half of the nation’s fruits, nuts and vegetables. But it’s surrounded by mountains, and smog has nowhere to go.
Since the federal government didn’t want to pre-empt efforts that were already underway in California (under then-Governor Ronald Reagan), and acknowledging that California’s challenges were unique, it allowed the EPA to review California’s rules and grant it a waiver to run under its own clean air regulations as long as they are at least as good as the EPA’s.
Other states are allowed to follow these rules, but only if they copy them exactly. These are known as “section 177 states,” named after the section of the Clean Air Act that grants this waiver, or “CARB” states, named for the California Air Resources Board which creates the state’s regulations.
So for the last 60 years, California has mostly run under its own clean air rules. There was a brief period during the Obama administration where California and federal rules were harmonized – but industry lobbying and the meddling of an ignorant reality TV host resulted in a shattering of that harmony, giving companies a more difficult regulatory environment.
These clean air rules have been a success, resulting in a >98% reduction in vehicle-based pollutants in the LA area, even as total vehicle miles traveled have gone up (and that news was from 2012 – it’s gotten even better since then due to EVs).
However, there’s still more work to be done, as LA and the nearby Inland Empire still have quite dirty air.
And so, California released a new set of clean air rules in 2022, which the EPA is expected to approve this week.
But other states immediately challenged those rules, despite that the rules do not affect them.
The challenge was brought by Ohio and 16 other republican-led states who sought to end the California’s long-supported state’s right to protect its residents from dirty air.
The states argued that the Constitution doesn’t allow the government to treat states unequally (despite that all of the states bringing the lawsuit have more Congressional representation per capita than California does), so letting California set clean air rules is unfair. The states seem to think that Californians should be required to breathe just as much poison as their republican leadership is forcing onto their citizens.
The case has already made its way through the court system, with courts reasonably ruling that the law, which has been effective for 60 years at reducing pollution and health costs for Californians and other CARB states, should stand. In April, the DC court of appeals affirmed California’s right.
But that wasn’t enough for Ohio and the 16 republican states, who brought their desire to poison Californians all the way so the Supreme Court of the United States.
That Court today denied the states’ petition, thus affirming the DC Court’s decision will stand. 8 of the 9 individuals sitting on the Court agreed not to review the case and to let the lower court’s decision stand, though Clarence Thomas stated that he would have taken the case.
In addition, last Friday, while the Court did agree to hear a case involving an oil industry challenge to California’s clean air rules, that case is narrowly limited to the issue of standing, or deciding what entities are allowed to bring cases to court. When it accepted that petition, the Court said it will not consider review of California’s right to set its own emissions standards.
Electrek’s Take
Well, I’ll take this as my opportunity to eat a little bit of crow. Even as late as last week, I thought there was a good chance the Court would torture itself into some sort of extra-legal reasoning to try to stop California’s rules, as it has before on CO2 emissions and Chevron deference.
But on Friday and today, the Court denied review of not one but two separate cases in that respect, so it seems like it either doesn’t want to hear cases about California’s well-established legal authority – or perhaps that it’s just waiting until the time is right to strike. We’ll have to see which one it is – I still don’t trust them given their explicit corruption, but we can take a breath for now.
All of this happens just over a month before convicted felon Donald Trump, who finally received more votes than his opponent on his third attempt (despite committing treason in 2021, for which there is a clear legal remedy), will once again find himself squatting in the White House. Mr. Trump has stated repeatedly that he wants to reverse clean air policies, thus saddling Americans with dirtier air, higher costs and poorer health, and to destroy the US EV market and send US manufacturing jobs to China.
And one of his common targets has been California, the state that has done the most in favor of advancing clean air – which is obviously anathema to a dirty air advocate like himself. He has signaled that he wants to “rip up” California’s waiver, an effort which he tried and failed to do before. So expect a fight to come in the coming years, with California once again on the side of clean air, and Mr. Trump once again on the side of poisoning Americans.
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On today’s energizing episode of Quick Charge, judges rule that Montana’s companies owe their kids a cleaner future, the Dacia Sandero looks set to overtake the Tesla Model Y in the European sales race, and a bunch of other stuff.
We’ve also got two brand-new, zero-emission Honda EVs set to debut at the CES show in January, a new and better way to recycle electric car batteries developed by BMW, and a massive new solar project being bankrolled by Walmart.
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Toyota just got a $4.5 million boost from the US Department of Energy (DOE) to make EV batteries more sustainable.
The funding comes from ARPA-E’s CIRCULAR program, which focuses on creating a sustainable, domestic supply chain for EV batteries.
The project, led by Toyota Research Institute of North America (TRINA), aims to tackle one of the EV industry’s biggest challenges: What do we do with old batteries?
Right now, disassembling battery packs and figuring out which parts can be reused or recycled is a slow, manual, and costly process. Toyota, teaming up with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), and Baker Hughes’ Waygate Technologies, is working to change that.
Building the battery recycling center of the future
The project will focus on resolving the primary bottlenecks in the battery supply chain cycle, which are automating battery pack disassembly, data-driven battery classification, and addressing cell degradation. Think of it as a high-tech recycling center where every part of a used battery is carefully evaluated.
This approach could extend the life of valuable battery materials, reducing waste and the need to mine new resources. The ultimate goal? A blueprint for what Toyota calls a “3R facility of the future” – a place to reduce, reuse, and recycle batteries on an industrial scale.
Nik Singh, principal scientist at TRINA and principal investigator on this project, says the project could reshape how the industry approaches battery recycling:
This project and program will highlight avenues for everyone to rethink their approach to battery circularity, and help prioritize the extension of battery life, facilitate battery reuse, and reduce battery waste.
Tech innovations to close the loop
The team’s plan includes:
- Automated battery pack disassembly to speed up the recycling process.
- Advanced diagnostic tools to assess the condition of battery cells and modules.
- Refabrication methods to turn old cells into new energy systems.
The payoff? Batteries that are reused and refurbished first – recycling becomes the last resort.
Marm Dixit, leading ORNL’s contributions, points out the environmental benefits. “By extending the life of the battery components, we reduce their total emissions per mile. That’s a big deal for the role EVs can play in the energy transition,” Dixit said.
NREL’s role will involve cutting-edge tech like machine learning and imaging using nano computed tomography to analyze the health and lifespan of batteries quickly. Baker Hughes’ Waygate Technologies will bring its expertise in non-destructive testing with advanced imaging systems.
Toyota’s Battery Lifecycle Solutions (BLS) team plans to take these innovations from the lab to real-world applications. “By applying the innovations established from this project, we aim to create a framework that not only reduces battery waste but also enhances the circularity of our battery supply chain,” said Sarah Kennedy, BLS manager, who is leading the technology to market deployment.
Read more: EV batteries may last up to 40% longer than expected – Stanford
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Ampion Renewable Energy has brought five community solar farms in Maine online, adding nearly 25 megawatts (MW) of clean energy to the grid annually and generating over 28 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity.
Located in Franklin (main photo), Aroostook, Penobscot, and Washington Counties, these solar farms serve customers in Versant Power and Central Maine Power territories. Residential households and businesses that subscribe will save up to 15% on their electricity bills while supporting Maine’s transition to clean energy.
Nate Owen, CEO of Ampion, grew up in Maine and founded Ampion in Bar Harbor in 2014. “Community solar is an invaluable state program that provides Mainers with many benefits,” Owen said. “It bolsters the local economy, improves grid resilience, and is available to all types of electricity consumers.”
Ampion has signed 1,700 households and 70 businesses to these new community solar projects. The company will also handle billing and customer care for the next 20 years. Ampion manages subscriptions for 48 community solar projects in Maine, amounting to over 215 MW. The company is growing its Maine workforce to support this expansion, with about 10% of its employees already based in the state.
Ampion is also partnering with local organizations, like The Highlands, a senior living community in Topsham. “We feel good about supporting local jobs and helping to make more clean energy available to the grid, all while helping our community members save money on electricity,” said Troy Chapman, operations director at The Highlands.
According to the Solar Energy Industries Association, as of Q3 2024, Maine had 1415 MW of solar installed and has a growth projection of 1581 MW of solar over the next five years.
Read more: Walmart and Nexamp are rolling out 31 solar farms in 5 states
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