Supreme Court Deals Crushing Blow To California’s EV Mandate

The U.S. Supreme Court delivered a major blow to California’s climate crusaders on Monday, rejecting the state’s latest attempt to shield its sweeping green-energy mandates from legal scrutiny. In a 7–2 ruling — with even one liberal justice siding with the constitutionalists — the Court cleared the way for California’s fuel and energy producers to proceed with their lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over the state’s aggressive electric-vehicle requirements.

At the center of the battle is Gov. Gavin Newsom’s mandate demanding that electric vehicles dominate California’s auto market by 2035 — a cornerstone of his ideological push for “carbon neutrality.” But Justice Brett Kavanaugh, writing for the majority, made clear that neither California nor the EPA can use bureaucratic maneuvering to escape accountability.

“The government generally may not target a business or industry through stringent and allegedly unlawful regulation, and then evade the resulting lawsuits by claiming that the targets of its regulation should be locked out of court as unaffected bystanders,” Kavanaugh wrote. “In light of this Court’s precedents and the evidence before the Court of Appeals, the fuel producers established Article III standing to challenge EPA’s approval of the California regulations.”

Kavanaugh also criticized the EPA for shifting its legal stance depending on political convenience:
“EPA has repeatedly altered its legal position on whether the Clean Air Act authorizes California regulations targeting greenhouse gas emissions from new motor vehicles,” he noted.

This is only the latest setback for Newsom’s environmental agenda. Earlier this month, President Donald J. Trump struck directly at California’s regulatory overreach, signing three resolutions that dismantled key planks of the state’s green-energy framework. The move was a decisive reminder that the federal government — under Trump — is no longer willing to indulge California’s unilateral attempts to dictate national energy policy.

“This case involves California’s 2012 request for EPA approval of new California regulations,” Kavanaugh explained. “As relevant here, those regulations generally require automakers (i) to limit average greenhouse gas emissions across their fleets of new motor vehicles sold in the State and (ii) to manufacture a certain percentage of electric vehicles as part of their vehicle fleets.”

The decision was hailed as a landmark victory by the industry groups challenging the mandates.
Chet Thompson, president and CEO of American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers, told the Daily Caller:

“The Supreme Court put to rest any question about whether fuel manufacturers have a right to challenge unlawful electric vehicle mandates. California’s EV mandates are unlawful and bad for our country. Congress did not give California special authority to regulate greenhouse gases, mandate electric vehicles or ban new gas car sales, all of which the state has attempted to do through its intentional misreading of statute.”

California Suffers Another Legal Defeat — This Time on the National Guard

The Supreme Court loss capped off an already punishing stretch for Gov. Newsom. On Wednesday, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals overruled a lower court and affirmed President Trump’s authority to maintain control of the California National Guard — a direct rebuke to the state’s effort to block federal deployment.

Trump celebrated the ruling, noting that his actions prevented further chaos in Los Angeles.

“The Appeals Court ruled last night that I can use the National Guard to keep our cities, in this case Los Angeles, safe,” Trump posted on his Truth Social page. “If I didn’t send the Military into Los Angeles, that city would be burning to the ground right now. We saved L.A. Thank you for the Decision!!!”

According to The Washington Post, the Ninth Circuit granted the Trump administration’s motion to stay a ruling from U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer. Earlier that day, Breyer accused Trump of violating the 10th Amendment by federalizing elements of the California National Guard to protect ICE personnel and federal property, asserting Trump had acted “both exceeding the scope of his statutory authority and violating the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.”

The Ninth Circuit’s decision reinforces the President’s constitutional power to deploy the Guard to maintain public safety — even in states where political leaders would rather score ideological points than protect their constituents.