The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said today that it is trying to disapprove of California’s Heavy-Duty (HD) Inspection and Maintenance (I/M) Requirements as it applies to out-of-state and out-of-country vehicles (Read AutoInformed.com on: CARB Blasts Trump’s Attack on California Clean Air Act and CARB Amends Clean Truck Regs With Trucking Industry!)*
“California was not, and has never been, duly elected by the American people to run our great country,” claimed EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin. “The state’s power grab knows no bounds. EPA will not allow California to violate federal law, and we will not sit idly by while, in the name of climate change, they raise the cost of living on all Americans who rely on truck drivers and the products they deliver across the country.”
This proposed disapproval comes after two complaints filed by the U.S. Department of Justice in federal courts against the California Air Resources Board (CARB) about the State’s enforcement of emissions standards through its so-called “Clean Truck Partnership” with heavy-duty truck and engine manufacturers. This politicization of the Justice Department – long attacked previously by President Trump as a misuse of power and directly opposed to the Republican party’s long-standing support of States’ rights, is yet another baffling move by the Trump mis-administration. A better name for the agency given its actions under Trump 2.0 is the Environmental Pillage Agency in AutoInformed’s view.
In response to illegal federal efforts to revoke California’s clean air waivers, Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order on 12 June 2025. The order directs state agencies to assess additional actions to spur light-, medium-, and heavy-duty zero emission vehicle adoption in California, and to deliver formal recommendations for additional actions to the governor in August. (California Movies Ahead as Fed Agencies Retreat on Clean Air)
The Ignored Data by the Environmental Pillage Agency
California has made major progress on air quality. However, its geography and persistent pollution challenges mean the work is ongoing The state must continue cutting vehicle emissions to meet national air quality standards, fulfill state goals, and fight climate change.
- Transportation is responsible for ~40% of greenhouse gas emissions and 60% of smog-forming pollutants.
- 10 million Californians live with air that U.S. EPA previously determined is among the worst in the nation.
- People who live in these areas suffer unusually high rates of asthma, heart and lung disease and often die prematurely.
- Five of the ten cities with the worst air pollution nationwide are in California. Ten million Californians in the San Joaquin Valley and Los Angeles air basins currently live under what is known as “severe non-attainment” conditions for ozone. People in these areas suffer unusually high rates of asthma and cardiopulmonary disease.
- Clean cars and trucks are a critical part of the plan to protect Californians. If upheld, President Trump’s illegal rollback of the state’s waivers would cost Californians an estimated $45 billion in health care costs.
- If implemented, CARB’s programs would provide $91 billion in cumulative net relief and economic benefits to Californians between next year and 2040.
Dr. Steven Cliff, Executive Officer of the California Air Resources Board, testified last before the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in opposition to the agency’s proposal to reject its 2009 endangerment finding, which has helped guide the United States to global leadership in addressing harmful greenhouse gas pollution.
DR Cliff’s Key Points
- “EPA’s proposal is based on deeply flawed assertions that rely on unfounded and cherry-picked claims that originate from the oil industry and self-proclaimed climate skeptics while ignoring the overwhelming scientific consensus.
- “Thousands of scientists from around the world are not wrong.
- “In this proposal, EPA is denying reality and telling every victim of climate-driven fires and floods not to believe what’s right before their eyes. Americans will not be fooled by this EPA.
- “Unchecked climate emissions are wreaking havoc across the country. From Californians to Texans, red and blue — no American is immune.
- “Last year there were 27 climate-driven disasters across this country, that cost human lives and if that’s not compelling to you, they cost $billions too.
- “But this doesn’t have to be a horror story of economic and environmental disaster – it can be one of redemption. This isn’t a question of how – we have the solutions. We need fearless leaders who will support innovation based on real science instead of bending the knee to the well-funded polluters who’ve lined the pockets of this administration for their own personal gain.
- “Just as China ate our lunch on solar manufacturing when a previous administration turned their back on this promising American invention, this proposal hands our country’s legacy of automotive innovation and manufacturing over to Beijing, Berlin and beyond.
- “The world is accelerating toward cleaner vehicle technologies and will watch the United States fade in the rearview mirror because this administration is choosing to quit the race,” said Cliff.
- The choice is yours: Believe the thousands of scientists who reject this proposal and unleash American innovation or fall for big oil’s corrupt rewrite of history and unfettered pollution.
*AutoInformed on
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
Environmental Pillage Agency attacks California
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said today that it is trying to disapprove of California’s Heavy-Duty (HD) Inspection and Maintenance (I/M) Requirements as it applies to out-of-state and out-of-country vehicles (Read AutoInformed.com on: CARB Blasts Trump’s Attack on California Clean Air Act and CARB Amends Clean Truck Regs With Trucking Industry!)*
“California was not, and has never been, duly elected by the American people to run our great country,” claimed EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin. “The state’s power grab knows no bounds. EPA will not allow California to violate federal law, and we will not sit idly by while, in the name of climate change, they raise the cost of living on all Americans who rely on truck drivers and the products they deliver across the country.”
This proposed disapproval comes after two complaints filed by the U.S. Department of Justice in federal courts against the California Air Resources Board (CARB) about the State’s enforcement of emissions standards through its so-called “Clean Truck Partnership” with heavy-duty truck and engine manufacturers. This politicization of the Justice Department – long attacked previously by President Trump as a misuse of power and directly opposed to the Republican party’s long-standing support of States’ rights, is yet another baffling move by the Trump mis-administration. A better name for the agency given its actions under Trump 2.0 is the Environmental Pillage Agency in AutoInformed’s view.
In response to illegal federal efforts to revoke California’s clean air waivers, Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order on 12 June 2025. The order directs state agencies to assess additional actions to spur light-, medium-, and heavy-duty zero emission vehicle adoption in California, and to deliver formal recommendations for additional actions to the governor in August. (California Movies Ahead as Fed Agencies Retreat on Clean Air)
The Ignored Data by the Environmental Pillage Agency
California has made major progress on air quality. However, its geography and persistent pollution challenges mean the work is ongoing The state must continue cutting vehicle emissions to meet national air quality standards, fulfill state goals, and fight climate change.
Dr. Steven Cliff, Executive Officer of the California Air Resources Board, testified last before the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in opposition to the agency’s proposal to reject its 2009 endangerment finding, which has helped guide the United States to global leadership in addressing harmful greenhouse gas pollution.
DR Cliff’s Key Points
*AutoInformed on
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn. He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe. Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap. AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks. Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.