President Donald Trump on Thursday signed a congressional resolution to eliminate a waiver that allowed California to set its own emissions standards.
Democratic Michigan Senator Elissa Slotkin was the sole Democrat who voted for it.
Tim Minotas is deputy legislative and political director with the Michigan Sierra Club. He said Slotkin's vote is disappointing.
Thirteen states, plus Washington, D.C., were following California's push to ban the sale of gas-powered cars by 2035.
"To vote to undermine these crucial programs can very well exacerbate asthma and cancer in front line communities," he said, "and risk investments and jobs in the clean transportation industry — and cede global leadership to China and other countries."
The resolution initially had the support of some other Democratic senators, but they voted no after the Senate pushed the resolution through using the Congressional Review Act, or CRA. It allows the House and Senate to reject some agency-finalized rules within 60 business days of their being notified.
California has had its EPA waiver for many years.
Slotkin said while she voted for the resolution, she was concerned about future abuses of the CRA.
"Unfortunately, the way Senate Republicans brought this vote to the floor will have longstanding implications for how we change and make laws in the U.S. Senate. That is why I voted at least 11 times against the Republican attempts to change the Senate rules and bring this provision to the floor."
Slotkin said her vote reflected her special responsibility, as Michigan's U.S. Senator, to stand up for the more than 1 million Michiganders whose livelihoods depend on the U.S. auto industry.
She noted that none of the 13 states were anywhere close to meeting California's stricter emissions standards — but she still favors policies to support electric vehicle manufacturing.
Minotas said despite his group's disappointment in Slotkin's vote, going forward, Slotkin has another chance to support electric vehicles and clean energy in the federal budget negotiations in the Senate. Many EV-related grants and tax credits, both corporate and individual, were eliminated in the House version of the budget.
"We as a state and a country — and the automotive industry also — have a lot to lose in terms of the forward momentum with clean transportation within the budget reconciliation," he said.
California promptly sued the Trump administration, challenging the government's authority to revoke its waiver.
