The EPA raises stakes in the fight against California by threatening to withdraw funds from the highway

On Tuesday, EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler sent a letter to the California Air Resources Board, warning that the country could be severely impacted if the state does not take action. Did not cancel 130 late air quality plans.

This decision follows President Donald Trump 's statement last week that the EPA was investigating possible water quality violations by the city of San Francisco and on the decision of the US Environmental Protection Agency. administration to rescind the waiver granted by California, which allowed it to set higher emission standards than the federal government.

"The White House has no interest in helping California comply with the Clean Air Act to improve the health and well-being of Californians." pure retaliation, "Newsom said in a statement.

According to CNN Senior Policy Analyst Ron Brownstein, these struggles for environmental policy between California and the Trump administration are part of a larger political struggle.

"President Trump rules as war president," Brownstein said. "It's only the war against Blue America.It uses the power of the federal government to try to coerce and even punish blue states and blue cities that are not part of its political coalition."

Newsom seems to be positioning itself as a proud leader in the fight against the climate crisis. Last week, after the EPA announced the end of California's waiver, which allowed the state to set its own exhaust standards, Newsom said to reporters: "Let me quote Pericles, who said:" We do not imitate. We are a model for others. & # 39; "

"We have moral authority – and that's something that's missing at the White House," added the governor.

Brownstein said that Newsom "is still balancing the undeniable call to fight with Trump," calling it "good politics in California," but noting that "there are a lot of ways for the government make life difficult for a state ".

State implementation plans are regulations that some states use to reduce air pollution in areas that do not already meet national standards for ambient air quality. These standards have been established under the Clean Air Act and are updated periodically.

California has the largest share of unapproved air quality plans, with 130 out of 350 in total, say EPA officials. In a telephone conversation with reporters organized by the EPA on the issue, provided officials are not named, a senior EPA official did not name any of the other states with significant backlogs.

"We believe that states across the country should withdraw their inactive implementation plans that go back years or decades and that, in many cases, have fundamental problems of approval," said one senior EPA official. "So we will communicate with states across the country on this front, California is a unique situation."