Focus on climate crisis
All articles | More information
Reporting on climate change is one of the major journalistic challenges of our time. The climate crisis is also one of the most important issues of humanity for SPIEGEL. For this reason, we support an international initiative that seeks to take a look this week: "Covering Climate Now" has been initiated by the Columbia Journalism Review and the Canadian newspaper "The Nation", with more than 200 media companies worldwide including the Guardian, El País, La Repubblica, The Times of India, Bloomberg or Vanity Fair. SPIEGEL is dedicating the cover story of the current issue to the climate crisis this week and every day pays special attention to mirror.de
The dispute over emissions regulations in California is a case for the US judiciary: The state filed on Friday complaint against the government of President Donald Trump wants to leverage the relatively strict conditions.
"Mr. President, we'll see each other in court," said California Attorney General Xavier Becerra. He will fight this illegal decision in court. His lawsuit was joined by 22 other states, the cities of Los Angeles and New York, and the district of the District of Columbia.
Becerra said in his statement clearly about Trump. He should have read the instructions for president, said Becerra, especially the chapter on observance of the rule of law: "The Oval Office is really not the place for a permanent further education measure."
Justin Sullivan / Getty Images / AFP
Attorney General Xavier Becerra: Challenging Trump
Becerra responded to the decision of the Department of Transportation and the Department of Transportation on Thursday that regulations for the fuel consumption of cars at the state level are invalid because they would be broken by federal law. The Department of Transportation declined to comment.
California is considered a pioneer of strict environmental standards. Back in the 1980s, when catalytic converters were finding their way into automobiles around the world, many states considered the US state a kind of environmental policy benchmark: vehicles that were clean enough for California also met the standards of other countries.
The most populous federal state, with nearly 40 million inhabitants, had recently set limits on pollutant emissions that are well below those of Trump's EPA. More than a dozen other states followed this policy.
The dispute points far beyond California
The lawsuit, which has now been filed, is likely to be the prelude to a year-long legal dispute: it only refers to some of the conflicts that exist between the Republican president and the traditionally democratically-governed California.
On the outside, the most recent decision by the EPA is to completely revoke California's November 2013 special permit to set its own emissions limits for cars. Already in 1970, the federal government had given the state the right to issue emissions regulations that differ from those in the rest of the United States. The reason was the high level of smog pollution in the metropolitan area of Los Angeles.
Trump is pursuing an environmental agenda that runs counter to that of California: The US president wants to relieve the economy of regulations wherever possible. For him, climate protection and environmental protection are spinning mills that have to be stopped.
More about the climate crisis
The dispute has dimensions that go far beyond California and a symbolic conflict. Since California is now the largest car market in the country, the industry must adapt to the local regulations - especially since 13 other states are now based on the California environmental regulations. These thus affect one third of the US car market.
EPO leader Andy Wheeler said on Tuesday: "We support federalism in our country and the role of states, but federalism can not justify that a nation-wide state can dictate its standards."
California, meanwhile, announced that it would have to go to the Supreme Court to obtain the controversial conditions. The government, which wants to be a pioneer in climate change, said emissions standards are "good for the economy" and protect the air and health of citizens.
The auto industry, which according to Trump is supposed to be a beneficiary of his policy, is on the topic between the fronts. Although it has lobbied for lax regulations in the past, its main objective is uniform standards: it is cumbersome and expensive to adapt the models to divergent regional rules.
