This Week: Trump And The EPA Have It Out For California

Trump admin to California: You have no choice, make your cars less fuel efficient. On Thursday, the EPA and Department of Transportation officially barred California (and other states who’ve joined the nation’s largest) from setting higher fuel economy standards than the federal government. That’s a big deal: California and its compatriots are to cars what Texas is to history textbooks — a market so large it affects the national reality. By lowering the national standard and prohibiting higher state-by-state standards, the President is also forcing car manufacturers into a position they’ve actively resisted. In June, 17 automakers including Ford, GM, Toyota and Volvo wrote to the administration, urging them not to water down standards that they’ve already spent time and energy meeting. No dice. In addition to strong-arming their way toward dirtier cars, the administration is reportedly pursuing an anti-trust case against manufacturers who’ve insisted on maintaining the California standard. The kicker? The administration bizarrely insists that requiring less fuel…