Davelift first off what part of W.Yorks are you in? I was born in HX and left when i was 18 but still have lots of ties.
I will try to explain our situation over here vis a vis the UK. In the UK because of the Parliamentary system uually the party that wins is like a dictator. They from that point on until the next election make all the laws and pass them. Imagine if Labour won the election but the Prime Minister was a conservative and he could veto some of their laws. Also the Supreme Court occasionaly weighed in and said no you are both wrong.
Our Safety Regulation Agency OSHA was set up by a Republican President Richard Nixon to be precise in 1973. But that was when the two parties agreed on things that were vital to the country. Now they wouldn't agree if China attacked us.
The Democrats support OSHA because they are funded by the Unions who want safety for their members, the Republicans think it's an interference in the factory owners business. At present the Congress is ruled by the Republicans (like the Commons) and the Senate by the Democrats (House of Lords). OSHA is supposed to go out to work everyday and enforce the rules but must get it's money from Congress. The Republicans who run Congress are like Scrooge to OSHA because they think it should not be there.
At the moment there is a strong movement in the USA against regulations. So to say we would have more regulations on indoor pollution is like saying I am going to win the lottery.
Diesel cars are a rarity in the states, they got a bad reputation in the 70's for unclean smoky exhausts and some other stuff and that killed them off. You and I know that they woud be the salvation but Americans are more in love with Hybrids or the elusive electric cars. As Old Tech Guy already said Diesel and Gas forget it. LPG has been it but Electric is now going to be it and will be it.
Americans like things that don't cost much in maintenance and are easy to fix. Jungehenreich tried like a lot of other companies to change das Americans minds. That will work if say you have a one or two truck line, Bendi, the old Steinboch's, Combi Lift etc because basically you are living on the fringe. When you try to do it with a full line and the support for that, you turn around and look at all that overhead eating your money every day, and then look ahead and see the 3 trucks you sold that week and do the maths.That's why they jacked it in and went with Cat. They had nothing to lose at that point.
The European brands with some exceptions always seem to be underprepared and under stocked with parts for the USA. The Japs and the Chinese (well not yet) have seemed to be more ready to put a lot of money into infrastructure even ahead of sales.Also the Japanese will put USA talent into management jobs almost straight away.The Eropeans send Rodger or Hans over here to run things. I think some of it is language especially with the Brits. Because we talk the same language they think they understand the biz, but actually we talk a very different business language with super different expectations.They have a hard time understanding they don't understand a damned thing. The Japanese know that customs and traditions will be very different and hire foreigners to guide them and then listen to them.
P.S. Re California and their standards. Only in mass marketed products will you find compliance with things like CA stds. If you asked most of the rest of the country to comply with a CA standard you would get a very rude reply.It would be like asking Leeds City Council to enact a law based on the Wine growing region of Southern France.