California bid denied to lower greenhouse gas

The Environmental Protection Agency slapped down California’s bid for first-in-the-nation greenhouse gas limits on cars, trucks and SUVs,

WASHINGTON - The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday slapped down California’s bid for first-in-the-nation greenhouse gas limits on cars, trucks and SUVs, refusing the state a waiver that would have allowed those restrictions to take effect.

“The Bush administration is moving forward with a clear national solution — not a confusing patchwork of state rules,” EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson told reporters on a conference call. “I believe this is a better approach than if individual states were to act alone.”

The long-awaited decision amounted to a serious setback for California and at least 16 other states seeking the new car regulations to achieve their anti-global warming goals. It was a victory for automakers, who contended they would have been forced to reduce their selection of vehicles in the states that adopted California’s standards.

The tailpipe standards California adopted in 2004 would have forced automakers to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent in new cars and light trucks by 2016, with the cutbacks beginning in the 2009 model year.

Under the Clean Air Act, the state needed a federal waiver to implement the rules.

“It is disappointing that the federal government is standing in our way and ignoring the will of tens of millions of people across the nation,” said Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. “California sued to compel the agency to act on our waiver, and now we will sue to overturn today’s decision and allow Californians to protect our environment.”

Twelve other states — Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington — have adopted the California emissions standards, and the governors of Arizona, Colorado, Florida and Utah have said they also plan to adopt them. The rules were also under consideration in Iowa.

With Wednesday’s denial, those other states are also prevented from moving forward.

In explaining his decision, Johnson cited energy legislation approved by Congress and signed into law Wednesday by President Bush.

The law requires automakers to achieve an industrywide average fuel efficiency for cars, SUVs and small trucks of 35 miles per gallon by 2020.

Johnson said Congress’ approach would be better than a “partial state-by-state approach.” He said California’s law would have yielded a 33.8 mpg standard, but California Air Resources Board chair Mary Nichols said Johnson’s math was “just wrong.”

She said the California regulations would have resulted in a 36.8 miles per gallon average and would have taken effect sooner than the federal standards.

“EPA is now trying to hide behind the passage of (fuel economy) legislation,” Nichols said. “This is really unconscionable.”

Environmentalists and Democratic lawmakers also denounced the decision. Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., who chairs the Senate’s environment committee, said she’d question Johnson at a hearing. Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., chairman of the government oversight and reform committee in the House, vowed to investigate, alleging the decision was dictated by politics — something Johnson denied.

“This federal agency blunder is bad policy and worse law,” Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said. “We will take the EPA to court if necessary and once again demonstrate that no one is above the law. If the EPA won’t obey the law or take the lead, at least it should get out of the way so states can protect our environment.”

Automakers applauded the outcome.

General Motors Corp. said in a statement that “by removing the disproportionate burden of complying with a patchwork of state-specific regulations that would divert our resources, automakers can concentrate on developing and implementing the advanced technologies in ways that will meet America’s driving needs.”

Wednesday’s decision was further confirmation of the Bush administration’s adamant opposition to mandatory limits on greenhouse gas emissions, even after a string of court decisions affirming the right of states and the federal government to regulate carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

It was the first time the EPA had fully denied California a Clean Air Act waiver since Congress gave California the right to obtain such waivers in 1967.

The auto regulations were to have been a major part of California’s first-in-the-nation global warming law which aims to reduce greenhouse gases economy-wide by 25 percent — to 1990 levels — by 2020. The auto emission reductions would have accounted for about 17 percent of the state’s proposed reductions.

Nichols said California expects to win on appeal and does not plan to shift its strategy to meeting greenhouse gas reduction goals.

Despite the Bush administration’s opposition to mandatory greenhouse gas limits, some congressional Democrats hope to craft a federal law. Earlier this month Boxer’s committee passed a bill with mandatory caps on greenhouse gases although approval by the full Senate next year is far from certain and there are no immediate plans for the House to act.

California had been waiting for Wednesday’s decision for two years. EPA put it off while a Supreme Court case was pending on whether the agency could regulate greenhouse gases. In April, the Supreme Court said it could.

In the wake of that ruling, President Bush directed federal agencies to craft regulations to cut greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles. Johnson said Wednesday he would review the newly signed energy bill to see what additional steps might need to be taken.PORTLAND — Gov. Ted Kulongoski said Wednesday he will take any legal action necessary to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles despite a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency decision to reject California restrictions that Oregon has adopted.

Kulongoski and fellow Democratic Gov. Chris Gregoire of Washington led efforts to put all three Pacific Coast states on the same emission standard for autos, trucks and SUVs.

But the EPA refused Wednesday to grant a waiver to California that would have allowed those restrictions to be put into effect, also blocking other states.

“Today’s decision by the EPA is very disappointing for Oregon and our efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that lead to global warming,” Kulongoski said.

But he said it “does not diminish my commitment to combat climate change and I will move forward with any legal or administrative means necessary to make sure Oregon can set its own tailpipe emission standards.”

Gregoire was also critical of the administration and the EPA decision, and said Washington state would move foward.

“This is a failure of leadership that places our economy and our environment at risk,” she said. “Washington can’t wait for permission to do the right thing for our environment and future generations.”

The Western Environmental Law Center, which has battled the Bush administration for the tougher emission standards, also planned to go to court to force the EPA to grant the waiver.

“It’s beyond irresponsible,” said Dan Galpern, staff attorney for the center, based in Eugene.

He noted the restrictions were modest and designed to allow auto manufacturers to meet the tougher standards in California, Oregon and Washington with “off-the-shelf technology” that would only slightly increase the cost of cars or trucks.

Galpern said the Bush administration is passing up a chance to immediately reduce global warming by delaying the greenhouse gas emissions limits in California and the 16 other states that want tougher regulations.

“They didn’t even have to do it themselves,” Galpern said. “They could have allowed the states to follow through with California’s initiative.”

Tom Geiger, spokesman for the Washington Environmental Council in Seattle, said auto and truck emission limits are especially important to the Northwest because they are the major source of greenhouse gas pollution, unlike other areas of the country where those gases are also produced by coal-fired power plants or other power generation.

Nearly half the electricity in the Northwest comes from Bonneville Power Administration hydroelectricity supplied by Columbia River Basin dams.

“We have a lot of clean hydro power here so electricity production is less polluting than in other states across the country,” Geiger said. “We have to address the pollution from cars and trucks.”

Galpern said the environmental law center will join any challenge to the EPA filed by the attorneys general of the states or it will file a challenge on its own.

The center had already warned the administration in September it would sue the EPA if it did not approve the Oregon plan to reduce emissions after the state adopted the tougher California emission standard in 2006. Washington state had made its own adoption of the standard contingent on Oregon, to take effect with the 2009 model year.

Besides Oregon and Washington, 10 other states have adopted the California standard — Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont. The governors of Arizona, Colorado, Florida and Utah have said they also plan to adopt them.