Senate Republicans gave California’s landmark plan to phase out gas-powered vehicles a big thumbs-down on Thursday. However, Santa Barbara County officials are unfazed. Local momentum toward the shift to electric vehicles (EVs) is still going strong, officials say, and will not be significantly impacted by the Trump administration and Congress’s attempts to curtail the state’s transition away from gas.
For context, last week, Republicans in the Senate and a few Democrats in the House voted in favor of blocking California’s electric car mandate — requiring all new cars sold in the state be electric by 2035 — and two rules cleaning up diesel trucks, saying they are expensive, impractical, and rob consumers of choice.
This marked the first time the state’s waivers to enact clean air standards that are stricter than the federal limits — allowed by the 1970 Clean Air Act — were revoked by Congress (in a questionable workaround move too complicated to explain here). But it extends beyond California’s borders, as 11 states were set to follow in California’s footsteps to reduce their own greenhouse-gas emissions.
While the state vows to fight the decision in court, Santa Barbara County is continuing its transition to EVs “pretty aggressively,” in the words of Garrett Wong, the county sustainability division manager. The county is not relying on any federal funds to support the transition. It already has momentum, Wong said, backed by funding from the state — including a recent $4.7 million grant — that is not at risk. The federal governments’ actions have a “chilling effect,” he noted, but “nothing is going to stop that progress,” such as plans to greatly expand the county’s EV charging network, in accordance with its 2030 Climate Action Plan.
The City of Santa Barbara is acting equally calm and collected. While its staff is tracking any potential repeals on EV tax credits, they are still “moving forward with our plans to electrify or decarbonize our fleet by 2035,” said Jefferson Litten, the city’s energy and climate division manager, including current plans to add 52 new charging stations at the city’s fleet yard. “If there are speed bumps along the way, we’ll deal with them as they come.”
County Supervisor Laura Capps was especially optimistic, still riding the high of the Board of Supervisors’ recent historic vote to phase out local oil and gas operations: “We’re on fire — no pun intended. We can channel our angst into what we do here. I feel as though we’re signaling to the Trump administration: Not on our watch.”
“We all understand that climate change will be combatted on a local level,” she continued, adding that local EV programs are “going to work,” and will not be impeded by the recent decision.
“We are full steam ahead,” she said. “What the Trump administration is doing has only energized local support for our climate action in terms of advocacy and awareness.”
Still, “Any reduction in funding for EVs and the associated infrastructure would have a negative impact on local air quality, specifically the pollutants the form ozone/smog and toxic diesel exhaust,” said Lyz Bantilan, a spokesperson for the Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District. Governor Gavin Newsom also expressed concern that the Senate vote, which he called “illegal,” will “make America smoggy again.”
A dramatic legal battle between California and the Trump administration is expected to unfold in the coming months, with Newsom promising to “fight this unconstitutional attack on California in court.”
