Bird flu virus has swept through farms across the nation’s largest dairy producing state. All human cases had been mild - until now.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an emergency proclamation on Wednesday in response to growing concerns over bird flu cases in the state and across the country.

In one of its last major actions on climate, the Biden administration Wednesday finalized a key waiver allowing California to set its own vehicle pollution controls – effectively allowing the nation’s most populous state to implement its 2035 ban on selling new gasoline cars.

The California rule is stricter than a federal rule adopted this year that tightens emissions standards but does not require sales of electric vehicles.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approved California’s plan to phase out and ban the sale of new gas-powered cars and light trucks by 2035. ABC News reported the EPA gave California the waivers it needed to enact the Advanced Clean Cars II Regulations (ACC II) devised and approved by the California Air Resources Board in 2022.