Senator Barbara Boxer said regarding the EPA's denial of California's waiver request: "Administrator Johnson's decision to deny the waiver was not supported by the facts, by the law, by the science, or by precedent. I will use every available tool to ensure that California and the nation are able to reduce the pollution that causes global warming. One of those tools is legislation that essentially overturns Mr. Johnson's actions."The bill is in response to the discovery that the EPA's own documents that say that California has "compelling and extraordinary conditions" that would satisfy reasons for granting a waiver. In spite of those internal findings, Steven Johnson, EPA chief, denied the waiver, saying "it is my view that California does not have a need for these greenhouse gas standards to meet compelling and extraordinary conditions."
The internal EPA briefings also conclude that if the auto industry sued the EPA to overturn its new regulations, that the EPA would win. However, if California were to sue for its own standards, that California would win. So Boxer and seventeen senatorial colleagues (15 D, 2 R) have introduced a bill that would compel the EPA to grant the Golden State its wishes. And if California gets what it wants, then 18 states are in line right behind it to adhere to the higher standards.
[Source: Green Car Congress]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Gary Blomquist @ Jan 27th 2008 5:49PM
Sad day for Californians and the 49 other state's vehicle owners.
I sure hope California doesn't get the waiver or we are back to square one, and forget getting many of those clean diesel powered cars.
The radical environmental lobby seems to have so much pull/power over common sense, fair play for all of us and our economy. :(
Menice @ Jan 28th 2008 9:18AM
aye, i'm with you.. but she looks to be a real thorn in the epa's ass.
L.Wood @ Jan 28th 2008 10:12AM
Maybe we need to wave bye-bye to California, build a fence around it, and call it good.
MasterCKO @ Jan 28th 2008 4:45PM
aaaand you guys are crazy.
For many different reasons, CA has need for more stringent rules regarding auto emissions than the rest of the nation (one of those reasons is LA, another is general population density, there are many more). The EPA's own internal documents agree to these points. The government in CA would like the right to fill this special need this time around. This is really pretty simple to understand.
Let's build a fence around CA because we don't like the fact that it does in fact need more stringent environmental checks? Um, yeah, ok. Say goodbye to a huge chunk of the US market as well, friend.