What’s good for GM is good for California
It had been something more than a minute, says the person in charge of keeping the air clean here in our state, since she’d been in touch with the boss of General Motors, America’s largest automobile manufacturer.
But it turns out the Detroit company’s famous CEO can read the election results.
“I was pleased to be in communication with Mary Barra again,” said Mary Nichols, head of California’s Air Resources Board. “It’s been a while since we had talked.”
The reason for the chat was simple: practical politics. With President-elect Joe Biden set to move into the White House next month, GM is switching sides in the legal fight against California’s right to set our own clean-air standards, which President Trump administration had opposed. For many decades, to fight some of the worst smog in the world, California has set the national standard for lower emissions. Since they can sell so many vehicles here, it made sense for almost all of the world’s manufacturers to go along with California standards — which helped clear the air in other states, too.
Many American and international car makers stuck by California during the Trump years. They know that, whatever bumps in the road will be encountered, the future of transportation is greener. But GM, Toyota and Fiat Chrysler had sided with Trump in a lawsuit aimed at stripping California of it regulatory power over emissions.
Ford, Honda, Volkswagen, Volvo and BMW bosses were among those who sided all along with California, which earned them the wrath of Trump, who tweeted they were “foolish executives.”
Regulation for regulations’ sake is not always good for business, not good for California.
But regulation happens, and when it does, it works best for all concerned when companies and governments negotiate rules in harmony and continue to stay in the closest communication about ways forward. Automakers may have bridled at earlier requirement at the time — but no one now regrets mandatory seat belts or the crash-safety changes that have saved hundreds of thousands of American lives. A dozen other states are so impressed with our state’s air standards that they automatically adopt them for themselves. The federal lawsuit against California’s own clean-air standards was a bad idea in the first place, and certainly will be dropped in a Biden administration, we hope never to be repeated.
Again, the GM capitulation was good for business, too: The day after the company’s announcement, the market applauded, as its stock price rose 4 percent.
Creative businesses go where they can see consumers going in the years to come. Electric cars will without question be part of the mix to combat both climate change and dirty air. But Porsche this week unveiled incredibly innovative plans to create new life for old-school internal combustion engines through work toward a carbon-neutral synthetic methane fuel. It will spend $30 billion on the effort. The wildly successful German marque doesn’t make such investments as a lark.
What business wants most is consistency. As Ford Chairman Bill Ford says he told President Trump about his company’s support for California recently: “I explained to him that it’s the right business decision and that frankly, if we have to engineer things twice — Product A for certain states, Product B for the rest of the states — it’s not a great position to be in.” California is the market- driver for American cars, and will continue to be.
Regulation for regulations’ sake is not always good for business, not good for California.