California defies Trump by tightening emissions standards

The state of California has approved the fuel economy regulation that the Obama administration proposed before leaving office. This measure has been taken against Donald Trump, who intends to roll back pollution restrictions to ease the burden on car manufacturers in his country.

During the announcement of the fuel economy measure, California Governor Jerry Brown stated that his state will defend both environmental causes and other liberal issues against President Trump; a move that could lead to a clash between federal and state regulators.

The regulation requires that the average consumption of all cars must not exceed 4.36 litres per 100 km by 2021. In the final weeks of Obama’s term, the government set the emissions standards for the period between 2022 and 2025. Under that rule, car brands should offer an average consumption of 54.5 miles per gallon (4.36 litres per 100 km) in the future. Nevertheless, Trump’s government team recently revealed that it would reconsider this measure in order to offer pollution standards within reach of car companies.

However, the California Air Resources Board approved the former standard proposed by Obama, and not only that, it also set the goal of promoting zero-emission vehicles. The Californian state will investigate new ways to reduce environmental pollution and has set its targets beyond 2025, according to Reuters.

If other states join the Californian cause of increasing the fuel efficiency of their vehicles, Trump could face serious problems in raising environmental pollution standards in the US. This could force the government to promote other forms of mobility such as hybrid, electric or fuel cell cars.