Too many of the Golden State’s policy decisions affect other states, whose voters don’t have a say in what Sacramento does.
For decades, California has made environmental policy as if it were a sovereign nation, not an equal member of the Union. The federal government granted it this privilege on the premise that the Golden State faced uniquely urgent challenges requiring special treatment.
Over time, that sense of exceptionalism has only grown. The state’s auto emissions standards have been adopted nationwide, and the governor now holds the power to dictate, with a single signature, which cars residents can and cannot buy.
Finally, a reason to check your email.
But that arrangement may finally be unraveling. Recent legislation signed by President Trump sends the clearest signal yet that the state’s regulatory exceptionalism is no longer politically sustainable.
Nothing contained in this blog is to be construed as necessarily reflecting the views of the Pacific Research Institute or as an attempt to thwart or aid the passage of any legislation.
California Shouldn’t Set America’s Environmental Policy
Kerry Jackson
Too many of the Golden State’s policy decisions affect other states, whose voters don’t have a say in what Sacramento does.
For decades, California has made environmental policy as if it were a sovereign nation, not an equal member of the Union. The federal government granted it this privilege on the premise that the Golden State faced uniquely urgent challenges requiring special treatment.
Over time, that sense of exceptionalism has only grown. The state’s auto emissions standards have been adopted nationwide, and the governor now holds the power to dictate, with a single signature, which cars residents can and cannot buy.
Finally, a reason to check your email.
But that arrangement may finally be unraveling. Recent legislation signed by President Trump sends the clearest signal yet that the state’s regulatory exceptionalism is no longer politically sustainable.
Read the City Journal op-ed here.
Nothing contained in this blog is to be construed as necessarily reflecting the views of the Pacific Research Institute or as an attempt to thwart or aid the passage of any legislation.