US Senate blocks California’s electric car mandate in historic vote

The U.S. Senate voted today to block California’s landmark mandate phasing out gas-powered cars, dealing a substantial blow to the state’s aggressive transition to electric vehicles.

An electric car charges at a station in Union City. Electric cars are a major part of California's decades-long efforts to clean its air and combat climate change. Photo by Loren Elliott for CalMatters

The decision to revoke three waivers that the Biden administration granted to California could upend the state’s decades-long efforts and authority to clean up its air pollution — the worst in the nation — and reduce greenhouse gases that cause climate change.

Today’s move by the Senate — following a vote in the House last month — sets the stage for what is likely to become a high-stakes legal and political battle between California and the Trump administration. 

Republicans in the Senate and some Democrats in the House who voted in favor of blocking California’s electric car mandate — along with two rules cleaning up diesel trucks — said they’re costly and impractical, and prevent consumers and businesses from making their own choices. 

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