The Real Meaning Of a California Gas-Guzzler Ban

Please indulge me while I summarize a little family folklore from my childhood. Two of my sisters, teenagers back then, suffered the indignity of wanting some particularly fashionable shoes but, due to budgetary considerations, having to take turns sharing a single pair. You no doubt see the problem already. “Sharing” is a loose term in this case, encompassing little compromise but a fair amount of wailing and the occasional physical altercation. My mother, who at the time worked approximately as many jobs in a day as I’ve had in my career, eventually dealt with the shoes. With a pair of scissors, as I recall.

I bring up this modern inversion of the Judgment of Solomon in light of remarks not-quite-delivered this week by Mary Nichols, who chairs the California Air Resources Board. Nichols was speaking at a forum on the subject of President Donald Trump’s effort to roll back vehicle fuel-efficiency and emissions mandates, which California opposes. As Bloomberg News reports, in her prepared remarks, Nichols mused on the alternatives the state might have to consider to curb air pollution if Trump was successful: