In response to the Senate parliamentarian reaffirming that California’s Clean Air Act waivers are not subject to repeal under the Congressional Review Act, Evergreen Action Vice President for States Justin Balik released the following statement:

“The Senate parliamentarian’s decision confirms what’s been clear all along: California’s Clean Air Act waivers are not federal rules and cannot be undone through political stunts. Trump’s EPA and his Republican allies in Congress tried to hijack an obscure legislative tool to kneecap California’s climate leadership and roll back life-saving clean air protections. But today’s ruling makes clear that states like California have every right to lead the charge to clean up the most polluting sector of our economy: transportation.

“Repulicans love to talk about ‘states rights’ — unless states stand up to fossil fuel interests. This was always a bad faith attempt to protect corporate polluters by undermining climate progress. California’s Advanced Clean Cars and Clean Trucks rules are already cutting pollution, driving innovation, and protecting public health. More than a dozen other states have followed suit. These state standards are critical to protect Americans from trucking pollution that is responsible for hundreds of thousands of premature deaths and childhood asthma cases, plus over a trillion dollars in economic damages. Today’s decision reaffirms that bold, state-led climate policy works and is here to stay.”

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