In case you needed any more evidence of just how crazy the NH Democrats have gotten: NH Democrat Rebecca McWilliams (Concord) is proposing a bill that would (in effect) delegate the regulation of New Hampshire’s air quality standards to a group of left‑coast bureaucrats known as the California Air Resources Board (CARB).
Representative McWilliams recently submitted a Legislative Service Request (LSR) that would “[require] the adoption of vehicle emissions standards based on the California clean car standards” (LSR 2020-2361).
California Air Standards made news recently when the Trump administration expressed its interest in revoking the long-standing waiver that empowers that state to establish air quality standards distinct from those of the federal government.
The California waiver was first enacted in the 1960s when the federal government was working on establishing nationwide standards under the Clean Air Act. At that time, California was further along in the process than the federal government, so the waiver served as a green light for California to proceed without waiting for the feds to do the job.
Five decades later, the waiver serves a different purpose; it provides California with a license to use its market power to dictate automotive standards to other states.
If you’d like to get a sense of just how those standards might affect your life, check out California’s brochure entitled: “Before You Buy A Car Out Of State… Make Sure You Can Drive It In California!”:
California has special requirements for vehicles:
- imported from a foreign country by an individual (Gray Market)
- imported from Canada
- specially contoured, or
- with engine modifications.
It may be very costly and in some cases impossible to modify these vehicles to meet California emission requirements.
(emphasis added)
Want to add a supercharger to that hot rod project? Think again. If Rebecca McWilliams has her way, that may render your vehicle undrivable in New Hampshire. Because an unelected group of California bureaucrats says so.
Have you ever considered buying a vehicle from Canada? I know several people who have done it, and they told me they got an excellent value in the process. But if Rebecca Williams has her way, that option might no longer be practical. Because an unelected group of California bureaucrats doesn’t want those filthy Canadian cars in their pristine state. (Our yours!)
Will California’s “reformulated gasoline program” be part of this package? What about California’s mandate that automakers meet a minimum quota for so-called zero-emissions (electric) vehicles sold within the state? Will California MPG standards limit the types of vehicles that you can buy here in New Hampshire? Or, increase the cost of heavier, safer vehicles that operate well in winter conditions)?
Ultimately this comes back to a question of choice. As a general rule, leftists hate choice. But they are always eager to tell you how happy you’ll be as a result of having fewer choices.
California’s Attorney General Xavier Becerra has even published a page on California’s “special role” in dictating how the rest of us should live our lives. He writes: “Cleaner cars and fuels give consumers more options in the marketplace and at the pump.”
Got that? By restricting what you’re allowed to have, we are giving you more choices. George Orwell would be proud.
And Rebecca McWilliams wants to put these California nut-jobs in charge of your life. No, thank you.
