Suzanne Potter
California News Service
Groups that fight for environmental justice are praising the Biden administration’s decision to grant California a waiver so it can implement clean-car rules that exceed federal standards.
California’s rules would ban the sale of new gas-powered cars after 2035 and require trucks to further clean up their exhaust.
Andrea Marpillero-Colomina, data analytics advisor for the nonprofit GreenLatinos, said the new standards will help clean up the air in low-income areas overburdened by truck traffic.
“Latino communities are more likely to be located near highways, near shipping centers, near freight distribution centers, and therefore they’re more susceptible to air pollution from vehicles,” she said.
This fight has been going on for many years. President-elect Donald Trump rescinded California’s clean-car waivers during his first term. A judge reinstated them. Then the state sought a waiver for a stronger set of rules – which Biden has now granted. And now Trump has vowed to revoke them again.
Auto industry groups predict EV sales won’t keep up with the new rules, which call for 35% of all new cars to be electric by next year.
Marpillero-Colomina added that California’s waiver could trigger protections in many other states.
“The granting of the California waivers not only affects Californians – it affects Latino communities in the 11 other states that have enacted or are planning to enact equivalent state policies, and so that represents millions and millions of those people,” she continued.
She noted that low-income Latino communities, especially those near the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, have higher rates of asthma linked to air pollution.
