Schwarzenegger doesn't like having Johnson in his face

Legally speaking 3

California is threatening to sue the U.S. EPA for obstructionism.

You'll recall that the U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled decisively that CO2 is a pollutant under the Clean Air Act, and that implementing restrictions on vehicle CO2 emissions does not abrogate the DOT's authority to set fuel-efficiency standards. That ruling pretty well destroys the legal basis for the lawsuits automakers have filed against Calif. and other states adopting tough vehicle emissions standards.

Now the only thing standing between California and implementation of its standards is a waiver from the U.S. EPA exempting it from the federal Clean Air Act. The state asked for the waiver way back in 2005, but EPA administrator Stephen Johnson has dragged his feet. So Schwarzenegger just sent him a letter saying he'd sue if Johnson didn't act within six months.

After intense pressure from Barbara Boxer's EPW committee, Johnson said he'd have a hearing on May 22 and a public comment period until June 15, but he didn't say when he'd have an answer. Boxer "said she expected the EPA to make a decision by the middle of the summer and would call agency officials back before her panel after the comment period had closed." I'm really starting to love this woman.

Suffice it to say, a lawsuit by California against the U.S. EPA seeking permission to fight global warming would be yet another in a string of public-relations disasters for this executive branch. Couldn't happen to more deserving bunch.

David Roberts is staff writer for Grist. You can follow his Twitter feed at twitter.com/drgrist.

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  1. Earth Shaman Posted 1:11 pm
    26 Apr 2007

    California EmissionsWe have pretty darned good emissions standards on vehicles now and the CAFE standards should go up as mandated,but California should relax its diesel standards as they USLD fuel and the advent of carbon traps reduce particulate emissions which are only bad for our health in big proportions and not causing any greenhouse effect.California supposedly has many higher learning institutions,but nary a one of them has a proper climate/earth science man to provide the government there with solid facts and not observations and the resultant theories.Californians are beating the political landscape to death and extracting massive amounts of cash out of the economy,just as the war on so called self inflicted terrorism is doing.You folks who continue to support the egregiously flawed greenhouse theory and please remember what the word theory implies are creating economic terrorism and I would like it to stop.Wake up you guys before the egg completely dries on your faces when the "Sun cycle" we are experiencing now abates in a few short years and you folks could have been fighting a much smarter fight.We need to get the coal plants out of the world,that should be first folks,and its about the acid and mercury guys and not the carbon.Coal plants add 40 percent of the pollutants to the atmosphere.The relatively clean cars add relatively little in comparison and jet aircraft make most of the haze in our skies,when did I last see you guys calling for a halt to those serious amounts of hydrocarbons emitting??Why not jump on the massive national train bandwagon and put your efforts where we really need them???

    Earth Shaman

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  2. dotcommodity Posted 1:58 pm
    26 Apr 2007

    Does anyone know if CA's 2010 mandate is still on?Some car companies like Mitsubishi are still going ahead with zero emissions cars like the iMIEV -
    so they will take another slice out of the US market with a $15,000 alll electric car before GM tries again -
    but it made me wonder, does the supreme court CO2 ruling now mean that CARB can once again enforce the "30% of autos must have zero emissions by 2010" rule?
    http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/03/mitsubishi-delive ...

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  3. GreyFlcn Posted 3:11 pm
    26 Apr 2007

    Why should California lower their standards?California should relax its diesel standards as the ULSD fuel and the advent of carbon traps reduce particulate emissions which are only bad for our health in big proportions and not causing any greenhouse effect.
    Why?

    The new Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel fuel allows for advanced catalytic converters to be used.
    Most car companies are going to sell diesel cars next year which are legal in California (And all 50 states)
    From this you're going to have Prius-like performance with a VW Jetta.  

    (About 45 mpg, which is taking into account the new recalculated MPG estimates for 2008 where Prius takes a big hit)
    _
    Now I was really impressed with this, until I read about the late 2008 Prius.
    They are switching from NiMH batteries to Li-Ion.
    The new car is expected to offer 94 mpg, and cut costs of the hybrid drive system 1/3rd at the same time.
    _
    Diesel will be a great option to get a larger demographic into driving greener cars.
    And for heavier cars, and more conservative buyers, this is probably going to be the best option for quite a while.
    However it can't even begin to compare with the promise electric cars hold.

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