How about if we are honest about what actually might reduce pollution? Mileage standards are being pushed to reduce CO2, not to clean up the LA skyline. And my argument is that they don’t make a meaningful difference, while delivering a potentially less reliable auto fleet, without ever considering the carbon footprint or pollution created in building a car (or appliance, or air conditioner etc) that no longer lasts as long.
If LA wants to ban cars to clean up the air, have at it. But that isn’t the same as the EPA twisting decades old laws to outlaw reliable cars.