The Brief

The Biden administration today approved California’s groundbreaking mandate phasing out new gas-powered cars just weeks before the incoming Trump administration poses a threat of overturning electric vehicle and climate rules.

The granting of the waiver by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency allows California to move forward in requiring 35% of new 2026 model cars sold in the state to be zero-emissions, 68% in 2030 and 100% in 2035.

The EPA also today gave the go-ahead to a 2020 California regulation requiring reductions in nitrogen oxides — a key ingredient of smog — emitted by heavy-duty trucks and buses.

The Trump administration is likely to challenge the approved waivers through the courts and deny other California vehicle standards yet to be greenlit.

At a campaign event in Michigan earlier this year, Trump dismissed the possibility of any state banning new gas-powered cars, declaring, “I guarantee it — no way.”

For longer than half a century, California’s vehicle emissions rules have been the driving force for dramatic improvements in the state’s air quality, especially in the smoggy Los Angeles basin and San Joaquin Valley. Cars, trucks and other vehicles are the biggest sources of smog-forming gases and soot, which cause asthma and heart attacks and other serious respiratory problems.

“California has longstanding authority to request waivers from EPA to protect its residents from dangerous air pollution coming from mobile sources like cars and trucks,” EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan said in a statement. “Today’s actions follow through on EPA’s commitment to partner with states to reduce emissions and act on the threat of climate change.”

Congress granted California the authority to set its own vehicle emissions standards in a 1967 clean-air law. But each standard set by California requires a waiver from the EPA before it can be implemented.

Under the federal Clean Air Act, the EPA can only legally reject a waiver if it’s “arbitrary or capricious,” unnecessary for addressing air pollution or technologically infeasible due to inadequate lead time.

None of California’s waivers has ever been revoked, according to the California Air Resources Board. The Trump administration in 2019 set a policy that tried to end California’s authority to enact its own emissions and mileage rules for cars. But California and 22 other states sued. The Biden administration’s EPA in 2022 granted the state a waiver for its zero-emission car rules, which triggered lawsuits by oil companies and 14 Republican-led states.

The stakes are high since the state’s air pollution ranks among the nation’s worst. Failure to meet federal health standards for smog and soot could result in economic sanctions, including the loss of highway funds.

“This might read like checking a bureaucratic box, but EPA’s approval is a critical step forward in protecting our lungs from pollution and our wallets from the expenses of combustion fuels,” Paul Cort, an attorney with the environmental group Earthjustice, said in a statement. “The gradual shift in car sales to zero-emissions models will cut smog and household costs while growing California’s clean energy workforce.”

An electric vehicle charges at a public Electrify America direct current fast charger in Los Angeles on May 16.

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Patrick T. Fallon

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AFP

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The Newsom administration has been pressing the EPA this year to approve all eight California clean-vehicle rules that still needed the agency’s go-ahead. Gov. Gavin Newsom traveled to Washington, D.C. last month to press the Biden administration to act before Donald Trump takes over the White House on Jan. 20.

“Clean cars are here to stay,” Newsom said in a statement. “Automakers and manufacturers have made it clear they intend to stick with California and consumers as we move toward clean cars that save people money. Naysayers like President-elect Trump would prefer to side with the oil industry over consumers and American automakers, but California will continue fostering new innovations in the market.”

Nevertheless, the transition to electrify transportation faces headwinds even in the Golden State. Electric car sales, once surging, have plateaued this year. Sales through the first nine months of this year were up only 1.2% over the same period last year, according to state data. That compares to a 56% increase in sales the previous year and 38% in 2022.

The November election has already influenced some decision-making at The California Air Resources Board, which enacts the state’s air pollution and climate rules. Earlier this month, the board at the last minute pulled back a proposed rule ramping up sales of zero-emission motorcycles. That decision came in part due to Trump’s election, a person familiar with the board’s thinking said. The state will instead offer incentives for people to buy electric motorcycles.

The EPA still is considering six other California clean air rules, including ones that phase out diesel trucks and require cleaner locomotives, commercial ships and off-road diesel vehicles like tractors and construction equipment. The most controversial are the regulations for trucks and locomotives.

Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court decided to review whether the oil industry has the legal standing to try to overturn a lower court’s decision that allowed California to set low- and zero-car emission standards for model years 2015 through 2025.

The new waivers approved today could provide more opportunities for legal disputes in the Trump 2.0 era. Those battles could once again reach the conservative-leaning Supreme Court. The justices earlier this year did away with a 40-year-old judicial rule of thumb, known as “Chevron deference,” which has been key for setting climate and environmental policy. The principle, rooted in a 1984 decision, obligated judges to yield to a federal agency’s interpretation when determining how a Congressional law should be applied.

Congress has passed little direct legislation on climate change and the EPA has relied on interpretations of older environmental laws, including the Clean Air Act.

Efforts to overturn California’s authority may also extend to Congress. The Congressional Review Act allows Congress to revoke federal rules approved during a certain timeframe at the end of an administration. Legal experts, however, debate whether that law would apply to EPA actions related to California’s clean-air waivers.

Republicans may attempt to repeal the Clean Air Act provisions that empower California, but such efforts would likely encounter resistance, including potential Democratic filibusters. Historically, bipartisan support for combating air pollution has thwarted similar moves to alter the Clean Air Act.

California’s clean-car mandate is also central to its climate strategy and has helped make the state a national leader in climate policy, with 11 states and Washington, D.C., adopting or planning to adopt its zero-emission car sales mandate.

The state’s history and economic influence also position it as a formidable opponent. Many automakers, aware of California’s large market share, have opted to negotiate with the state rather than resist. In 2020 BMW, Ford, Honda, Volkswagen and Volvo agreed to adhere to California’s standards through 2026, irrespective of federal actions. Stellantis pledged compliance with zero-emission car sales requirements through 2030, even in the face of federal or judicial opposition.

For 2026 models, 35% of sales in California must be zero emissions under the state rules; through September, they are only 25.4% of sales this year.

The phased-in mandate allows sales of new plug-in hybrids as well as battery-only cars, and the state says some gas-powered cars are expected to remain on California roads for more than 25 years.

Many obstacles stand in the way of electrifying cars, including the need for more public fast chargers. State officials estimate that California needs a million public charging stations in six years — almost 10 times more than the number available to drivers a year ago — and 2.1 million by 2035.

The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, an industry group, published a memo last week saying that it “will take a miracle” for all of the states that follow California’s rules to reach 100% new zero-emission cars by 2035.

“There needs to be balance and some states should exit the program,” the automakers said.

In the wake of the Eaton Fire, Altadena and Pasadena’s music community have really shown up to support fire survivors, especially fellow musicians who lost instruments and record collections.

That effort continues this weekend with a special donation concert at a Pasadena record store, with the aim of getting vinyl records back in the hands of survivors who lost their collections.

“You know, our name is Healing Force of the Universe, and I think that gives me a pretty clear direction… especially after the fires,” said Austin Manuel, founder of Pasadena record store, where Sunday’s show will be held.

The record donation effort is the brainchild of musician Brandon Jay, who founded the nonprofit Altadena Musicians after losing his home and almost all of his family’s instruments in the Eaton Fire. Through Altadena Musicians’s donation and registry platform, Jay said he and his partners have helped some 1,200 fire survivors get their music instruments back.

Brandon Jay.

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Robert Garrova

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LAist

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Now, that effort has fanned out to restoring vinyl record collections.

“All of that stuff evaporated for thousands of people,” Jay said. “Look at your own record collection and be like, ‘Wow, what if that whole thing disappeared?’”

You might know Jay from several bands over the years, including Lutefisk, a 1990s alt-rock band based in Los Angeles. He and his wife, Gwendolyn Sanford, composed music for TV shows, including Orange is the New Black and Weeds.

Jay plans to play some holiday tunes at Sunday's record donation show (which LAist is the media sponsor), along with fellow musician Daniel Brummel of Sanglorians. Brummel, who was also a founding member of Pasadena’s indie-rock sensation Ozma, said he was grateful to Jay for his fire recovery work and to Manuel for making Healing Force available for shows like this.

Brummel, who came close to losing his own home in the Eaton Fire, recalled a show he played at Healing Force back in March.

Ryen Slegr (left) and Daniel Brummel perform with their band, Ozma, on the 2014 Weezer Cruise.

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Even Keel Imagery

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“The trauma of the fires was still really fresh,” Brummel said. After playing a cover of Rufus Wainwright’s “Going to a Town,” that night — which includes the lyrics “I’m going to a town that has already been burnt down” — Brummel said his neighbors in the audience told him the rendition hit them hard. “It felt really powerful. And without that space, it just wouldn’t have occurred.”

Details

Healing Force of the Universe Record Donation Show
Featuring: Quasar (aka Brandon Jay), Sanglorians (Daniel Brummel) and The Acrylic.
Sunday, Dec. 14; 2 to 5 p.m.
1200 E. Walnut St., Pasadena
Tickets are $15 or you can donate 5 or more records at the door. More info here.

Topline:

The case: In September, the city settled a lawsuit brought forward by two brothers in their 70s who said they suffered serious injuries after an LAPD officer crashed into their car. Days before the $18 million settlement was reached, lawyers for the brothers said Feldstein Soto called an expert witness testifying for the plaintiffs and “attempted to ingratiate herself with him and asked him to make a contribution to her political campaign,” according to a sworn declaration to the court by the plaintiffs’ attorney, Robert Glassman.

The response: Feldstein Soto did not respond to an interview request. Her spokesperson said the settlement “had nothing to do” with the expert witness. Her campaign manager told LAist the city attorney had been making a routine fundraising call and did not know the person had a role in the case, nor that there were pending requests for her office to pay him fees.

What Jurado says: In a statement to LAist, Jurado said she wants to “make sure that the city’s legal leadership is guided by integrity and accountability, especially when their choices affect public trust, civic rights and the city’s limited resources."

What’s next: The motion needs to go through a few committees before reaching the full City Council. If it passes, the motion calls for the city attorney to “report to council in closed session within 45 days regarding the ethics breach violation and give updates to the City Council."

Every year in Santa Ana, Luis Cantabrana turns the front of his home into an elaborate altar in honor of La Virgen de Guadalupe that draws hundreds of visitors.

Along the front of the house, the multi-colored altar is filled with lights, flowers and a stained-glass tapestry behind a sculpture of the Lady of Guadalupe. Cantabrana’s roof also is lit up with the green, white and red lights that spell out “Virgen de Guadalupe” and a cross.

Visitors are welcomed with music and the smell of roses as they celebrate the saint, but this year’s gathering comes after a dark year for immigrant communities.

Luis Cantabrana stands in front of the stunning altar he built in front of his home in honor of La Virgen de Guadalupe. Every year, his display draws hundreds of visitors.

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Destiny Torres

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LAist

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Why do they celebrate? 

In 1513, the Virgin Mary appeared before St. Juan Diego between Dec. 9 and Dec. 12, asking him to build a church in her honor. Her image — a brown-skinned woman wearing a green veil with her hands together in prayer and an angel at her feet — miraculously appeared on his cloak.

To celebrate in Santa Ana, worshippers gathered late-night Wednesday and in the very early hours Dec. 12 to pray the rosary, sing hymns and celebrate the saint.

Cantabrana has hosted worshippers at his home for 27 years — 17 in Santa Ana.

The altar started out small, he said, and over the years, he added a fabric background, more lights and flowers (lots and lots of flowers).

“It started with me making a promise to la Virgen de Guadalupe that while I had life and a home to build an altar, that I would do it,” Cantabrana said. “Everything you see in photos and videos is pretty, but when you come and see it live, it's more than pretty. It's beautiful.”

The Santa Ana home's elaborate altar in honor of La Virgen de Guadalupe draws hundreds of visitors each year.

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Destiny Torres

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LAist

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Gathering in a time of turmoil 

Many also look to the Lady of Guadalupe for protection, especially at a time when federal enforcement has rattled immigrant communities.

“People don’t want to go to work, they don’t want to take their kids to school, but the love we have for our Virgen de Guadalupe,” Cantabrana said. “We see that la Virgen de Guadalupe has a lot of power, and so we know immigration [enforcement] won’t come here.”

Margarita Lopez of Garden Grove has been visiting the altar for three years with her husband. She’s been celebrating the Virgencita since she was a young girl. Honoring the saint is as important now as ever, she said.

“We ask, and she performs miracles,” Lopez said.

Claudia Tapia, a lifelong Santa Ana resident, said the Virgin Mary represents strength.

“Right now, with everything going on, a lot of our families [have] turned and prayed to the Virgen for strength during these times,” Tapia said. “She's a very strong symbol of Mexican culture, of unity, of faith and of resilience.”

See it for yourself

The shrine will stay up into the new year on the corner of Broadway and Camile Street.