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This is.... ridiculous.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/06/doj-launches-antitrust-probe-over-auto-emissions-deal-with-california-wsj-reports.html

So we get it... trumpenfurher wants to ease all emissions restrictions to let everyone go and 'roll coal' or whatever.

That's fine. I'm not one to complain about that. I don't have children, and I don't like any of yours. Feel free to pollute as much as you want.

But apparently California has their own set of air quality requirements, which are more strict than the federal requirements... and that's upsetting the federal government. They actually believe that the more strict regulations held by CA, are screwing up the federal government's ability to make a law (and I agree they are, if the intent of the law is to make cars emit as much crap as possible.) If the intent is to have the federal regulations be "upper limit" regulations, then this is absolutely bullsh$t.

Anyway... this has apparently pissed off the federal government enough that the Justice Department is filing suit against 4 auto manufacturers for anti-trust activities, because they all made a deal with the State of California on emissions levels.

So.... let's reiterate...
The Federal Government is suing 4 auto manufacturers for working together to lower their emissions to a level below that of the Federal Requirements.

I just can't understand how anyone can not think we have the dumbest people in the administration at this point in time.

Shouldn't there be some kinda limit on YOUR emissions???

I want a car that runs on ground spotted owls.

I heard sage works

Can't make this chit up, oh wait, Trump did.

What's the point of even having states if the feds can come in at any time and dickslap them?

What's confusing is, to my understanding, this isn't a matter of even needing to meet fed regs... I mean, maybe I'm missing something, but aren't regs usually "meet x emissions or less"... And if the CA regs are lower than the fed regs, then any car which meets CA regs would automatically meet fed regs.

So they're suing the auto companies for antitrust, but appear to be doing it because they're upset that the less stringent fed regs are being largely ignored because the auto manufacturers are going to meet the most stringent regs to be able to serve the entire us market.

It's simply petty.
The trump administration is upset that their loosening of regs was largely ineffectual because a large state, with historical air pollution issues requires cleaner emissions.

Think of it this way.... If the fed succeeds here, they will ultimately be forcing CA to have worse air pollution.

It's childish nonsense that's putting out effort specifically to increase our pollution..

I always thought that when a regulation was set (or any enforceable min or max) the goal expected would be to meet or exceed that particular line in the sand.
It does seem crazy that CA could be doing something wrong by exceeding the federal standards.

Arguing over the NEED of the Fed to even set standards is a totally different argument. This is only germane to existing regulations, however they got there and however they get changed.

That's sort of my problem. Not the lower emissions standards... I mean, fine... Burn the planet down... I don't care about anyone's kids... But to specifically waste money and effort to purposely punish companies for being cleaner than the requirements? That's.... Ridiculously stupid and done only to bolster someone's ego.

Is Bruce Babbit still alive? Not only does he know about spotted owls, but he’s also an authority on spotted a$$ apes

However imperfect.

Well.... the orange idiot is pushing his idiotic ideas more. Today he tweeted

Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump
"The Trump Administration is revoking California’s Federal Waiver on emissions in order to produce far less expensive cars for the consumer, while at the same time making the cars substantially SAFER. This will lead to more production because of this pricing and safety......
... advantage, and also due to the fact that older, highly polluting cars, will be replaced by new, extremely environmentally friendly cars. There will be very little difference in emissions between the California Standard and the new U.S. Standard, but the cars will be....
....far safer and much less expensive. Many more cars will be produced under the new and uniform standard, meaning significantly more JOBS, JOBS, JOBS! Automakers should seize this opportunity because without this alternative to California, you will be out of business."


So... he's essentially saying that CA has to accept the higher emissions cars, regardless of what they need from their environmental requirements.
He's dumb enough to think this changes safety....
He's dumb enough to think that safety will lead to more production.

"Automakers should seize this opportunity because without this alternative to California, you will be out of business".
I think the idiot is threatening companies to not meet california's standards?

Oh I saw that.
Very little difference. But he's sure as hell not gonna let them have that very little difference.

The moron probably doesn't even have a clue what the difference is.

Kind of like he is really clamping down on those terrible immigrants but not doing anything differently than Obama


Imma gonna turn both right and left at the same time

at exactly the same time. imma gonna hit someone and not hit anyone at the same time

I've done that....

I thought that was Texas

Seems to me the only ones upset over this are the limp-wristed liberal hippie environmentalists and the Trump haters...

I recommend this book by Jared Diamond, "Collapse" ...

the author describes a number of human societies throughout recorded history that flourished and then died out due to decisions and choices made by those societies when faced with threats due to environmental damage, climate change, hostile neighbors and friendly trade partners. These five factors can be used to understand why some societies survive, but how many others vanished. He discusses Easter Island, Pitcairn, the Anasazi, Mayans, Norse Greenland, Japan, compares and contrasts two societies on one island, struggling Haiti and the successful Dominican Republic, China, Australia, among others

Are we at a tipping point? If so, are we making good decisions?


edit: the author does not weigh in on the current debate about climate change, so he does not fall into the liberal environmentalist classification. He's a geography professor who specializes in evolutionary biology and biogeography.

You went to Jared?

my kid's generation seems to take this much more seriously, as they are envisioning a world for their kids...

That's what the dinosaurs kept saying while they continued to smoke cigarettes. look how that turned out.

They can if they want right? states rights and all?

I don't think they're afraid...they just don't like inheriting a mess that they'll have to live with that would negatively impact their quality of life and the health and prosperity of their kids and grand-kids ...

we are living with examples now of lack of concern about our activities and their effects on the future: Deepwater Horizon, Nowruz oil spill, F kushima, Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, Bhopal.... with dozens of abandoned mines leeching poisons into underground water supplies, superfund sites containing haz-mat from bankrupt industries that we'll be paying for centuries or into perpetuity to contain....

clean water and clean air seem to be important fundamental conditions for a decent quality of life

I think we're already putting about 30% less pollution into the air than 40 years ago with 10 times the number of vechicles... it could be worse...