It is a situation where Utah should stand with the automobile industry, with California — and against the administration in Washington — by objecting to recent efforts to halt the march toward clearer cars across the United States.
The state of California has the power, under the Clean Air Act of 1970, to set standards for automobile fuel efficiency that are more stringent than the national requirements. It won that power because, well, it’s California, and because that state has long suffered the most from the harmful smog caused by auto emissions.
It was a provision that technically only mattered in California.