It's funny. Two weeks ago all the talk was about quickly rolling back the standards and revoking CARB's waiver. Now it's working with industry in 2018 and with California. Seems like reality is setting in. The reality is that the EPA rule on CO2 is final and the final determination on the Technical Review has been issued. Changing that will be time consuming and subject to many legal challenges, many of which will likely be successful.
But those challenges pale in comparison posed by the CARB waiver. It's valid until 2025 and there is no statutory authority for revoking it. Moreover, California's agreement with the EPA and NHTSA provide that CARB can revert to its more stringent standards if the EPA and NHTSA soften their standards.
I see state emission standards being revoked in the near future, with the trifecta of republican control ( US house, senate , president ), the Clean Air Act more Orwellian parts can and very likely will be repealed as part of the deconstruction of the EPA. CA may think it can do as it pleases, but with a few signatures that can be all undone, there is a new boss in town and you are going to see so big changes.
Well you need 60 votes in the Senate to amend the Clean Air Act. Given the problems passing Trumpcare, which only needs a simple majority in both houses, this is obviously out of reach. There may be a new boss, but the boss is a disorganized and ineffective mess who seems on course to make make Jimmy Carter look effective. Too much tweeting and not enough leading, which is probably the price you pay for electing a narcissist.
I disagree about seeing a lot of changes. I see almost nothing changing. The president doesn't control much on the economic side. The last jobs report was a perfect example. Workers with a college degree or better gained 573,000 jobs. All other education classes lost 121,000 jobs. Same pattern as before. During the last year those with at least a bachelor's degree gained 1.6M jobs; those without LOST 330,000 jobs. Only the trend is accelerating, with more and more jobs going to well educated non-white workers living in urban areas and uneducated whites living in rural areas losing jobs at an alarming rate. From all the "Make America Great Again" talk, I gather that this is not the plan?