Even as the warming Arctic undergoes what one National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration official called the "most unprecedented transition in human history" _ even though 2016 and 2017 were the two hottest years ever recorded _ even though nearly all scientists agree that, to head off disaster, humans must change their behavior to stop generating the emissions that lead to climate change _ President Donald Trump is not a believer.
This is the staggeringly scary fact driving the Trump administration's decision to scrap federal rules requiring cars and SUVs to average nearly 55 miles per gallon by 2025 and to lower the target to 42 miles per gallon. Reducing vehicle emissions is one of the most basic steps that humanity can take to try to avoid catastrophic climatic change.
Against this backdrop, the decision by California and 17 other states to sue the Trump administration to force the preservation of the fuel-mileage rules it inherited _ and to preserve the precedent allowing California to set tougher mileage standards than the nation as a whole _ should be welcomed by anyone with a pulse. Because the stakes are so high, this is the most crucial of the 30-plus legal challenges the state has filed against the federal government since Trump took office.
Gov. Jerry Brown is right: The U.S. should lead the fight against global warming, not undercut it.
