Environment

Saying ‘a deal is a deal” the California Air Resources Board voted last week to endorse the stringent automobile emissions standards hammered out with federal agencies five years ago, vowing to go to court if the Environmental Protection Agency follows through on a threat to undo the regulations—and then blocks the state from setting its own standards.

Leaders of California’s three coastal conservation agencies are calling the Trump Administration’s proposed budget a threat to the state’s environmental and economic future, and urged California's congressional delegation to push back against deep cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

President Trump traveled to Detroit today to announce that his administration was shelving the Obama administration's aggressive fuel-economy standards for cars—standards that California has been relying on to spur the production and sale of energy-efficient, electric and hybrid cars, thus reducing greenhouse gases.

Just as the Trump Administration is proposing significant cuts to federal agencies that employ climate scientists , a California official is planting himself outside federal agencies this week—hoping to poach skittish federal researchers.

The Trump Administration’s budget-cutting plans reportedly include eliminating funding for restoration and protection of the San Francisco Bay, and programs that help California coastal communities prepare for climate-related threats.

The anticipation continues to build as California officials spent another week waiting for the expected rollbacks of vehicle emissions and fuel efficiency standards to come from the Trump Administration—moves that could have serious repercussions for California’s greenhouse gas reduction goals.

Struggling with what officials call the largest and most expensive toxic contamination in California history, embattled state regulators have changed the formula for assessing the level of lead-laced soil in residential areas—a move that could result in a significant number of homes falling off the priority cleanup list.

The Trump administration has postponed deciding whether to approve millions in federal funding for an electrified Caltrain. Should the project become the newest casualty of the word of words (and tweets) between the President and state Democrats, it will be a signal that “the state’s outspoken political opposition to the Trump administration might come with a price.”

Cozying up to the new administration might not be a good political look for most state Democrats—but if President Trump wants to make due on his campaign promise to direct up to $1 trillion towards new infrastructure projects, well, California lawmakers might just make an exception.

Democrats in the California Legislature, wary of as-yet unknown environmental polices to come from the Trump White House, have moved to preempt potential federal rollbacks by introducing a trio of bills to maintain existing state protections—both for the environment and for the scientists who study it.