In the battle of California versus the Trump administration, California gained a tentative partner in Canada. In past years, pollution standards have been strikingly similarity between the U.S. and Canada.
In an effort to reduce environmental issues, specifically emissions, Canada expressed its openness to tighter regulations that match California and thirteen other states. The openness directly contradicts the objectives of the Trump administration, which is working towards easing the overly aggressive and ineffectual environmental standards of the Obama administration.
Currently, the Trump administration is evaluating standards created during Obama’s presidency. However, California would advocate for stricter standards which the Trump administration is aware of, hence the threat to challenging California’s ability to set its environmental standards.
The issue at hand is the miles per gallon standard in America. Under the Obama administration, the intended plan was to have cars reach 36 miles per gallon fuel efficiency by 2025, making it one of the most aggressive plans to address climate change. President Trump wants to take a more lenient approach and reduce the standard for miles per gallon to 30.
Also, the administration has suggested enacting the 30 miles per gallon standard in 2020, as opposed to the Obama standard of 2025. At 30 miles per gallon, Americans will still be filling their tanks less and reducing the amount of pollutants that enter the air.
The reduction will most likely cause California to push back against the administration again for too lax of standards. However, the administration plans to implement the more reasonable standards in the upcoming years.
