California, allies ready for emission-law war with Trump EPA, CARB head says

[Oilpan4]

The funny thing is GM and ram have the highest mpg offering trucks for 2020 hitting 26 and 27mpg.
What's sad is I was able to achieve that kind of mpg 15 years ago with 1990s tech.

[GRA]

ABG:

U.S. ends antitrust probe of 4 automakers over California emissions deal
Ford, Honda, Volkswagen and BMW weren't found to have violated any laws

https://www.autoblog.com/2020/02/08/tru ... ust-probe/

. . . The Justice Department's investigation, which started last fall, had aimed to determine whether antitrust laws were violated by Ford, Honda, Volkswagen and BMW in reaching the July deal with California. Under the deal, the automakers planned to comply with pollution and related mileage requirements established by California that are tougher than the federal standards sought by President Donald Trump. . . .

The Justice Department didn't find conduct violating the law and has closed the investigation, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on Friday. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak publicly.

In September, the administration revoked California's authority to set auto mileage standards, asserting that only the federal government has the power to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and fuel economy. Top California officials and environmental groups took legal action to stop the rollback.

Democrats accused the administration of using antitrust powers to target political opponents with the investigation. A top Justice Department official defended the probe before Congress and denied any political motivation or influence from the White House.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, said Friday that the Justice Department's “trumped-up charges were always a sham — a blatant attempt by the Trump administration to prevent more automakers from joining California and agreeing to stronger emissions standards."

Newsom called the closing of the probe “a big loss for the president and his weaponization of federal agencies. . . ."

Not a surprise that DoJ realized they didn't have a leg to stand on.

[GRA]

As expected, the EPA finalized the reduction to 1.5% annually, down from 5%. Ladies and gentlemen, start your suits!

Meanwhile, ABG reports Volvo is in talks with California to join the four other companies (Ford, Honda, VW, BMW) that have agreed to meet the state's standards.

[Oilpan4]

I have heard that the sky's around LA have been very clear lately.
So it's definitely the personally owned vehicles creating the smog.
Since tractor trailers are definitely still running, factories are still manufacturing, diesel trains still going, all agricultural activities are still going on. The only thing that has changed is the cars.
The state is better off just forcing people to buy electrics, since a half century of building ever cleaner cars has only marginally cleaned the air and still earns them a top spot on the list for worst air quality in the nation.

[GRA]

I have heard that the sky's around LA have been very clear lately.
So it's definitely the personally owned vehicles creating the smog.
Since tractor trailers are definitely still running, factories are still manufacturing, diesel trains still going, all agricultural activities are still going on. The only thing that has changed is the cars.
The state is better off just forcing people to buy electrics, since a half century of building ever cleaner cars has only marginally cleaned the air and still earns them a top spot on the list for worst air quality in the nation.

Actually, far fewer trucks are running due to reduced demand, many factories are shut down including at least one oil refinery, ag has crops rotting due to lack of labor and market, public transit agencies are seeing ridership drops of 95% or more and have cut back service accordingly, shipping traffic is likewise impacted, air traffic has essentially stopped, and most important of all it was rainy and windy most of the month, which is the single biggest factor in better air quality.

All of the above, in addition to cars, has been responsible for the improved air quality, here and everywhere else.

[Oilpan4]

What's being harvested in late April other than hay and animal feed?
If crops were being left in the field to rot we would be in trouble, well I wouldn't, at least not for a while.

Why did the trump administration suspend federal truck driver hour limitations for the first time in history if trucks aren't moving?
Some oil refineries I can see being shutdown since most states are seeing a reduction in driving of 40 to 50% Monday through Friday and 60% to 75% reduction on weekends.

Less public transit rolling coal in the city is good.

How does air travel smog up the cities?

[LeftieBiker]

What's being harvested in late April other than hay and animal feed?
If crops were being left in the field to rot we would be in trouble, well I wouldn't, at least not for a while.

https://calmatters.org/california-divid ... food-bank/

For many farmers, it’s more cost-effective to let crops rot in the fields. They can’t afford to harvest it if there is no market for it, and food banks can’t cover the full cost of labor.

[Oilpan4]

So lettuce? If you consider that food.
Well if you have steers or knows someone near by with steers they can be released onto the lettuce field. Convert lettuce to beef for a little bit more flexible shelf life.
I don't know any one that considers milk a crop. I do know the cheese producers, condensed and powder milk producers are running as much milk as possible through those plants.
They're doing pretty good since milk is almost free right now and those products greatly extend the usable life of milk.

[LeftieBiker]

This is why some people have you on Ignore. Why not just admit that you were mistaken?

[powersurge]

What's being harvested in late April other than hay and animal feed?
If crops were being left in the field to rot we would be in trouble, well I wouldn't, at least not for a while.

https://calmatters.org/california-divid ... food-bank/

For many farmers, it’s more cost-effective to let crops rot in the fields. They can’t afford to harvest it if there is no market for it, and food banks can’t cover the full cost of labor.

This shows the ridiculousness of politicians.... They love to show how we send $10 per person lunches to hospital staff (a warm and fuzzy publicity stunt), and are pushing to spend billions in actual $$$ as hand outs, even to illegals

There IS A MARKET FOR ALL THIS. There is no slowing of the economy of the same number of people in the country that need to continue to eat..

So who is going to suffer if the farmers let crops rot and milk and animal products are being poured down the drain..?? We are... When in a month or two we will exhaust the easy to obtain food in supermarkets and there will be no long-term sustainable food highway into the homes of Americans. We will be fighting over a head of lettuce and a loaf of bread in the supermarkets..

Politicians cannot think of the idea to subsidize the growing of food and animal products to feed the hungry people of the country.... Asses they are...

PS - The hell with the "emission war". Think of keeping the country alive.