Expect more of this in the future.
Expect more of this in the future. Mario Tama/Getty Images

"States’ rights" used to be a rallying cry for the contemporary conservative: People like Ronald Reagan and both George Bushes preached about "small government" and "federal over-reach" constantly.

Of course, Republican politicians aren't exactly known for their moral consistency, and we've seen, time and again, as members of the GOP have forgotten all about states' rights when it becomes inconvenient for their ideological agenda. Take the legalization, state by state, of legal marijuana. Or gay marriage. (Note: the GOP is hardly alone in being hypocritical AF. For evidence on this, check out Obama's record on immigrant deportations and who signed the Defense of Marriage Act.) But the latest example of Republicans throwing long-held party principles to the wind comes from none other than—surprise!—Donald J. Trump.

On Wednesday, the EPA announced that they will be revoking an Obama-era waiver that allowed California to set stricter vehicle emission standards than those imposed by the feds.

The President made this announcement, naturally, on Twitter—or else someone from his administration did. There are far fewer ALL CAPS and grammatical errors than the typical Trump tweet.




California, as well as environmental groups, have already promised to sue, but what we have here, in short, is a case where the federal government is forcing a state to comply with lesser emissions standards than state legislators and voters actually want.

The idea that the federal government (and the goddamn Environmental Protection Agency!!) would demand that states take action to make climate change worse is just pure Trumpian madness.

But this isn't just about climate change; it's also about air quality, which even climate change deniers and skeptics should be concerned about. Have you ever seen photos of Southern California from the 1970s? The entire region was covered in smog. It looked like a constant tire fire, and rates of respiratory illness were through the roof.

Now, I don't think Californians need to start stocking up on respirators (at least not until next wildfire season). National emissions standards are much stricter and cars are much cleaner than they were 50 years ago, in no small part thanks to the Clean Air Act. But the question is, why the fuck would Donald Trump and the EPA do this? The auto industry doesn't seem to be demanding it: Several major automakers have even already endorsed California's emissions standards. Trump says it's about JOBS JOBS JOBS, but the reason employment in the auto industry has declined has nothing with emission standards and everything to do with job automation.

I suspect it's something more personal, and that this latest move stems from Trump's deep, deep loathing of the last President.

Trump has done everything he can to diminish Barack Obama's environmental legacy. He withdrew from the Paris Climate Agreement, scrapped the Clean Power Plan, and, just last week, repealed a rule enacted under Obama that limited pollution in U.S. waterways, including the drinking water of 30 percent of the nation.

I'm assuming this will idiocy be reversed as soon as President Warren or Sanders or Biden or Yang or Stein is inaugurated (if it even holds up in court), but one thing we can add to Trump's legacy will be his attempt to make the air we breathe and the water we drink that much more worse.