Dem
47
GOP
53
California has been trying to "Trump-proof" its state in various ways for years. One of them was a deal in 2023 with four heavy-duty truck manufacturers to voluntarily continue to meet the state's zero-emission standard, even if federal law doesn't require them to. On Tuesday, the FTC declared the agreement unenforceable.
This doesn't mean that California doesn't have any other weapons at its disposal. It could ban state agencies from buying gasoline-powered trucks after a certain date and could offer incentives for private companies to buy electric trucks. It could also impose a sales tax on gasoline-powered trucks but not electric ones. Many states have sales taxes with various exemptions. If all the blue states were to do this, their market power would go a long way towards encouraging truck companies to provide a wide variety of electric products, even without an enforceable agreement. But this would require the blue states to act together and quickly. (V)