Tons of money pouring in.
In the end, the Oregon DEQ moved
forward and will issue what's
called its proposed rules next week.
There will be public hearings
on the rules in mid-october.
Then they're going to
take effect in December.
Now back to California's unique role
in setting emission rules. Why, you ask,
can't states set their own rules?
If you heard of states rights,
well, it's because it's
forbidden under the federal law.
California is the only state in the country
that can set its own limits on car emissions.
The other states have to either
follow federal rules,
which are not.
It's tough or follow California's lead,
and I think California's special treatment.
Well, that's definitely worth asking.
How did we get here?
For the answer to that question,
we have to get in the Wayback
machine and go back to the 1940s.
The first recognized occurrence of smog
was in Los Angeles in 1943. Look at that.
People's eyes and lungs burned,
and it was initially called a gas attack,
blamed on a nearby plant that created
a chemical used in synthetic rubber.
But even after the plant shut down,
the smog persisted.
In 1947, the Los Angeles County Air
Pollution Control District was formed,
regulating power plants and oil.
Refineries. And yet again,
the smog was still there.
It wasn't until the early 1950s that a Dutch
bioorganic chemistry professor from Caltech,
Dr Ari Hockensmith,
discovered the culprit for smog
was automobile exhaust produced
by internal combustion engines.
So the state of California
began taking action.
It created air quality standards.
In 1966, California established the first
tailpipe emission standards in the country.
And that leads us to a California
governor you may have heard of.
Ronald Reagan.
In 1967,
he approved the Mulford Correll Air
Resources Act to create the state
Air Resources Board meant to address
air pollution in the Golden State.
In that same year,
Congress enacted the Federal Air Quality Act,
and it was within that piece
of legislation that California
was first given the ability to
set its own air quality rules.
And then,
in 1970,
the federal Clean Air Act expanded
on the Air Quality Act and this
time officially gave California the
authority to set its own separate,
more stringent.
Vehicle emission regulations to address
what was called at the time the
extraordinary circumstances of population,
climate and topography that generated
the worst air in the nation.
To this day,
California is the only state that
can apply for a Clean Air Act
waiver to set stricter limits
than the federal government.
Other states like Oregon or Washington
can choose to just follow the
feds or to get behind California.
If the states choose to follow California,
they have to adopt identical regulations.
No switching it up,
no cherry picking what you like.
And again,
that's all because of the
federal Clean Air Act of 1970.
So it's fair to say California wields
tremendous environmental and economic power,
as they're the only ones who can say.
Hey,
you don't like what the Feds are doing
when it comes to vehicle emissions?
You wanna take it a step further?
You have to follow our rules.
And you can imagine that issue has
ruffled some feathers along the way.
One of those Clean Air Act waivers was
rescinded by President George W Bush and
then restored by President Obama in 2013.
But then President Trump
rescinded it again in 2019.
And then back in March of this year,
the Biden administration restored it again,
allowing the state to once again
set its own emission standards.
And a quick side note.
And by the way,
you ever been infuriated by that
check engine light in your car?
Well, you can blame the
California Air Resources Board.
They claim ownership of setting the standard
for onboard diagnostic systems like that
beginning with 1988 model year cars.
So, yeah, that is how we got here.
Now, I want to hear from you.
What do you think about all this?
Are you a fan of electric cars,
or maybe even one of those fancy
hydrogen cars one of these days?
Are you hopeful the emission rules
will help fight global warming?
Send me an e-mail, William.
Our address is the story at kgw.com.