The Brief

The Trump administration formally rescinded the legal foundation of federal climate policy Thursday — setting up a new front in California’s long-running battle with Washington over emissions rules.

“Today, the Trump EPA has finalized the single largest act of deregulation in the history of the United States of America,” EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said at a White House press conference. “Referred to by some as the holy grail of federal regulatory overreach, the 2009 Obama EPA endangerment finding is now eliminated.”

After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the federal government may regulate greenhouse gases if they were found to endanger public health, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a scientific determination that greenhouse gases indeed were a threat. By withdrawing its own so-called “endangerment finding,” the EPA is abandoning its justification for federal tailpipe standards, power plant rules and fuel economy regulations.

California opposed the withdrawal of the endangerment finding when it was proposed last year, and is expected to sue over the decision.

California Air Resources Board executive director Steven Cliff testified at the time that the move ignored settled science.

“Thousands of scientists from around the world are not wrong,” Cliff said in his testimony. “In this proposal, EPA is denying reality and telling every victim of climate-driven fires and floods not to believe what’s right before their eyes.”

Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement Thursday that California would take the Trump administration to court over the decision.

“Donald Trump may put corporate greed ahead of communities and families, but California will not stand by,” Newsom said. “We will continue to lead because the lives and livelihoods of our people depend on it.”

Other states and environmental groups have also indicated they could sue. They include Massachusetts, which was part of the coalition of states that sued to force the federal government to curb greenhouse gases nearly two decades ago.

Eliminating the federal basis for regulating planet-warming gases will not halt California’s climate policies, most of which – from California’s market-based approach to cutting carbon pollution to clean energy mandates for utilities — rest on state law.

In fact, the decision may open the door for California to set its own greenhouse gas standards for vehicles, a possibility that lawmakers and regulators are actively weighing.

The reversal in federal policy could also undercut arguments that federal law blocks state lawsuits against oil companies and boosts interest in expanding California’s authority over planet-warming pollution within its borders.

California prepares for a fight 

Ann Carlson, a UCLA law professor and former federal transportation official, has argued that aggressive federal action against climate policy “could, ironically, provide states with authority they’ve never had before.”

Writing in the law journal Environmental Forum, Carlson theorized that California could attempt to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks directly under state law.

Campbell Power Plant in Sacramento on Aug. 31, 2022.

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Rahul Lal

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CalMatters

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Federal law has preempted most states from setting local vehicle emission standards; California has, through a series of waivers granted under federal clean air law, obtained permission to set stricter standards than the federal government does.

This could help California’s efforts “in the long run,” Carlson wrote in an email Wednesday, “but of course withdrawing the United States from all efforts to tackle climate change is a terrible move. We should be leading the global effort, not retreating.”

In California, where cars and trucks account for more than a third of the state’s greenhouse gas emissions, California regulators at the air board and lawmakers are weighing in. When asked last year by CalMatters whether the air board would consider writing its own rules, Chair Lauren Sanchez said, “All options are currently on the table.”

“This is definitely a conversation,” Assemblymember Cottie Petrie-Norris, a Democrat from Irvine, said during a Wednesday press conference held by the California Environmental Voters. “So stay tuned.”

Ripple effects in court and Sacramento

If Washington formally exits the field of carbon regulation, states may argue they have broader room to pursue liability claims tied to wildfire costs and other climate impacts, experts said.

California has sued major oil companies as recently as 2023, in an attempt to hold them responsible for climate impacts. Oil companies have frequently cited federal oversight as a reason to dismiss climate-damage lawsuits against them.

“California is struggling with wildfire costs, for example, which are linked strongly to a warming climate,” said Ethan Elkind, a climate law expert at UC Berkeley. “I think that opens up a lot of legal avenues for states like California.”

The federal pullback has prompted lawmakers to consider expanding the Air Resources Board’s powers.

Assemblymember Robert Garcia, a Democrat from Rancho Cucamonga, this week introduced a bill aimed at affirming the state’s power to curb pollution from large facilities that generate heavy truck traffic, such as warehouses and ports, which concentrate diesel exhaust in nearby communities.

“It's no secret that the federal government and California are not seeing eye to eye — we're not on the same page,” Garcia said at Wednesday’s news conference. “This is an opportunity for our state, for California to step in.”

This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.

Computer science, nursing and electrical engineering are among the most lucrative fields of study for recent California undergraduates, who on average earn well over $100,000 four years after graduating in these majors.

That’s according to a new analysis of federal earning data by The HEA Group, an education research organization. The report found that, on average, recent California graduates who received a bachelor’s degree earned nearly twice that of high school graduates, reinforcing that bachelor degrees help expand opportunities for greater economic mobility.

More students are questioning the economic value of higher education amid rising costs to attend college in California. Last year, students who lived on campus reported an 18% increase in their overall expenses compared to the previous year, according to a California Student Aid Commission report.

Growing skepticism of higher education’s value partially inspired Michael Itzkowitz, The HEA Group’s president, to conduct its analysis. He said students should enter post-secondary education with their “eyes wide open” about both the cost of the degree and its potential payoff.

“Before students consider additional levels of education, it’s important that they know what kind of investment they’re gonna make upfront, but also what kind of payoff they’re gonna have on the back end,” Itzkowitz said.

Different degrees, different values

STEM degrees, those related to science, technology, engineering and mathematics, are among the highest paying fields. Itzkowitz said that federal earning data of graduates from California colleges and universities was generally consistent to what he has observed nationally.

Those who earned a degree in mathematics and computer science earned an average salary of $138,785 four years after graduation — the highest of all the majors included in HEA’s analysis.

Other top earners included bachelor’s degree holders in computer engineering and nursing, which resulted in annual incomes of $125,120 and $123,693, respectively.

The analysis included nearly 277,000 graduates who received federal student aid. It found the most popular major is business administration, management and operations, which translated to an average salary of $74,271 four years after graduation.

Itzkowitz cautioned against using the database to determine the value of a particular major.

“A social work degree and an engineering degree exist for very different reasons, and both have different kinds of societal value that goes beyond the paycheck,” he said. “This is about being better informed of the outcomes before students spend the next two to four years of their life earning a degree.”

For students using the HEA database to make decisions about their field of study, it is important to consider what university they are attending, he said. A bachelor’s degree from one institution will lead to different outcomes compared to the same degree from other colleges.

The HEA analysis of roughly 3,000 bachelor’s, associate’s and certificate programs in California found that spending more time in school had economic benefits.

On average, those who obtained an associate’s degree earned on average $23,942 more than those with a certificate. Bachelor’s degree holders earned $34,769 more on average than those with an associate’s degree.

“I would argue it suggests that college is certainly still worth it when it comes to economics,” Itzkowitz said.

The U.S. Postal Service could "derail" the midterm election if it continues rushing out "untested" technology as part of President Trump's push to restrict mail-in voting, a newly released whistleblower report warns.

With voting by mail for the midterms set to officially start this week, key parts of the USPS plan for carrying out Trump's directives, including requirements for states to comply, remain blocked for now by a court order in the legal fight over the president's executive order.

Still, the mailing agency has been preparing for months to launch an online portal that would allow state election officials to submit absentee voters' names and ballot envelope barcodes required by the now-blocked rule.

Testing of that new system, however, has been insufficient, according to claims by a whistleblower, outlined in a disclosure that Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut submitted Monday to USPS.

"USPS leadership, it appears, has discarded all best practices as they speed the project to be ready for a September 1 implementation — raising questions about whether catastrophic failure would be a feature rather than a bug," said the disclosure, prepared by Whistleblower Aid, a nonprofit organization representing the anonymous federal government official with direct knowledge of the Postal Service's development of the new system.

If courts allow USPS' plan for Trump's order to proceed for the midterms, problems with the online portal could lead to eligible absentee voters not receiving their mail-in ballots in time or at all.

One potential logistical hurdle, the whistleblower claimed, stems from an unusual "zero-percent failure policy" USPS has set for the process of verifying that the mail-in ballots states want to send out meet the requirements of its new rule.

"As designed, the process is entirely unforgiving. It could delay ballots by the thousands in repeated verification cycles — and thus prevent states from mailing enormous numbers of ballots," the disclosure said.

Spokespeople for USPS did not immediately respond to NPR's questions about the whistleblower disclosure.

In a letter to Postmaster General David Steiner, Blumenthal urged Steiner to "abandon this ill-conceived, unconscionable plan and ensure that all Americans can exercise their constitutional right to vote, including by mail, without interference by USPS."

Blumenthal said on a phone call with reporters that he found the details of the disclosure "mind-boggling" as an elected official and U.S. citizen.

"And what the disclosure reveals is that the Postal Service has designed a system that is intended to fail," the senator added.

The president, who has voted by mail himself, defended his directives for USPS and other federal agencies as a way to curb illegal voting by non-U.S. citizens, which many studies and audits show is extremely rare.

Last week, a federal judge in Boston issued a temporary restraining order against USPS after finding that its plan for Trump's order is likely illegal because the mailing agency has no authority to control voting by mail.

The Trump administration has appealed that ruling to the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, setting up what will likely be another battle at the Supreme Court, which has not yet weighed in on the legality of Trump's directives.

More lower court rulings on Trump's order may also be on the way as election officials and mail-in voters attempt to sort through the uncertainty the ongoing legal fight has caused.

Editor's note: USPS is a financial supporter of NPR.

Edited by Megan Pratz

Copyright 2026 NPR

Los Angeles County rolled out a new way to participate in Board of Supervisors meetings Tuesday with a revamped registration system that officials say will make it easier for residents to have their voices heard.

Under the pilot system, people making public comments over the phone will get a text message reminder when the item they want to speak on is before the board, meaning they don’t have to watch an entire meeting that can run hours-long. It also gets rid of all the access codes, pins and “raise hand” features callers would’ve been required to use.

Supervisor Janice Hahn, whose district stretches from Whittier to Catalina Island, said what the board does is for the public, and it's the board's responsibility to make it as seamless and accessible as possible for residents to share their thoughts.

“This overhaul of our public comment system is about empowering residents in every corner of L.A. County — especially those who may not be able to take time out of their Tuesdays to come down to the Board Room — to speak up on the decisions that affect their lives,” Hahn said in a statement.

How does it work?

First, register here starting at 9 a.m. the day of the meeting if you’re planning to make public comments in person or over the phone. It’ll ask you to select the meeting you want to participate in and the agenda item(s) you want to speak on.

To speak over the phone, you’ll have to call (213) 444-2600 to connect to the meeting. Pins and access codes are no longer required, but expect to follow some prompts when you dial in. Plus, if you get disconnected, you won’t lose your place in line.

You’ll then get a text reminder when your agenda item is up (don’t forget to enter your phone number and opt in when you register). Each speaker will be called by name or by the last four digits of their phone number.

To speak in person, you can also register at a kiosk in the boardroom. You should check in at the kiosk when you arrive and wait until your name is called to the podium to speak.

You’re not required to register, but it’ll make the process quicker, according to county officials. Anonymous public comments are also allowed.

Officials said the new system is accessible for people with disabilities, including a portal that supports screen readers for blind or visually impaired people.

You can still submit written public comments online through the board’s website.

Why it matters

Residents have expressed “many concerns” about the previous public comment system for both in person and over the phone, Supervisor Hilda Solis said during Tuesday’s board meeting.

“I hope everyone will utilize this new system, it has been a great investment,” said Solis, who is also chair of the board. “I hope this will help to expedite all of those concerns.”

The pilot comes about a year after the L.A. County Board of Supervisors introduced real-time translation services and moved to a new teleconference platform for public comments after people reported issues with the old system.

How can I keep up with the board meetings?

• When: Supervisors meet at 9:30 a.m. Tuesdays. You can find the full calendar, including canceled meetings, here.
• Where: Room 381-B, 500 W. Temple St., Los Angeles.
• How to watch: The meetings are broadcast live here and on YouTube. 
  
  • They’re also aired on KLCS in the city of L.A. at 11 p.m. the following Wednesday.
• Agendas: You can find the agendas for each meeting here.
  
  • You can also sign up to have the agendas sent straight to your email inbox through that page.
  • If your internet access is iffy, you can call (213) 974-1442 to ask for the agenda to be mailed to you.

Kroenke Sports and Entertainment has reached a deal to purchase controlling ownership of the Los Angeles Angels from Arte Moreno.

The company led by Stan Kroenke made the surprising announcement Tuesday, saying it expects to close the transaction in early 2027. Major League Baseball, which must approve any sale, didn’t immediately comment on the news.

Kroenke’s company owns the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams, Premier League champion Arsenal, the NBA’s Denver Nuggets, the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche, Major League Soccer’s Colorado Rapids and SoFi Stadium, along with the large Hollywood Park campus around the multibillion-dollar Inglewood arena. The conglomerate has now moved into baseball with the Angels, whose turbulent 23-year tenure under Moreno’s ownership will finally come to an end.

“The Angels are a storied franchise anchored in a great market,” Kroenke said in a statement. “We look forward to an exciting future with the Angels organization.”

Moreno, an outdoor advertising magnate from Arizona, bought the Angels from the Walt Disney Company in 2003. While the club had steady success in its first years under Moreno with much of the roster that won the 2002 World Series, winning five AL West titles in six seasons during the 2000s, the Halos have entered a period of decline since their most recent playoff victory in 2009.

At 53-85, the AL-worst Angels are currently headed to their 11th consecutive losing season and their 12th consecutive non-playoff season, both the longest active streaks in the majors.