States will soon be able to set their own tailpipe-emissions limits stricter than the federal government s, thanks to an expected rollback of a Trump-era policy. The Environmental Protection Agency says California and other states will be allowed to set separate emissions standards once it reinstates a waiver that allows them to do so. A former engineer and policy advisor for the EPA s Office of Transportation & Air Quality, Jeff Alson, said when California first changed its standards during the Obama administration, other states took the lead. .
This Valentine s Day, climate advocates want policymakers to show the planet some love. More than 450 local lawmakers from the nonprofit group Elected Officials to Protect America have signed an open letter calling on President Joe Biden and congressional leaders to declare a climate emergency and pass the climate sections of the Build Back Better Act. Clair Brown, economics professor emerita at the University of California-Berkeley, said time is running out. .