California Sues The Feds
The other shoe dropped. California has sued the federal government for the EPA's denial of a waiver under the Clean Air Act and has been joined by 15 other states in the suit. From today's Los Angeles Times:
California and 15 other states sued the Bush administration Wednesday, seeking to overturn a federal decision last month rejecting the state's bid to curb greenhouse gases from cars and trucks.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, marks a new round in an epic five-year struggle between California and the federal government over whether states have the power to regulate carbon dioxide and other pollutants that cause global warming. ...
Under the federal Clean Air Act, California is allowed to enact stricter air pollution laws than the federal government as long as the state is given a waiver from the EPA.
Waivers have been routinely granted in roughly 50 cases during the last three decades, allowing the state to lead the way in catalytic converters, unleaded gasoline and other areas.
The Director of the EPA denied the waiver right after President Bush signed into law the new CAFE standards, basing the denial on that law which he claimed would solve the problem much more efficiently. He did so in spite of the fact that his advisors and staff at the EPA recommended unanimously that the waiver be granted (see my December 20, 2007 post for the details).
Apparently Director Johnson is going to continue that stance right into the courtroom, but he may have a few problems in that regard:
Johnson said California's standards would amount to only a 33.8 mpg equivalent.
But the technical staff of the state Air Resources Board worked feverishly through the holidays to crunch numbers. Its calculations not only disputed the EPA's fuel-efficiency estimate, but also concluded that California's rules would achieve twice the greenhouse gas reductions expected under the new federal mpg standard. ...
It will be up to the courts to sort out the numbers once EPA produces its backup studies. The agency has yet to publish the extensive documentation normally provided in the federal register, although it has agreed to release all relevant documents to congressional committees. [Emphasis added]
The documentation hasn't been provided, which can fairly lead to the inference that the documentation would actually support California's contentions, and Director Johnson and the current administration are fully aware of that.
So why the denial? Well, the American automobile manufacturers, they of the behemoth SUVs in the days of $100 a barrell oil, wanted it and still want it, even though their desires will lead to environmental catastrophe. Nice folks, them. Especially nice, apparently, in the eyes of this administration.
So, California and 15 other states have to sue their own federal government, wasting precious time and money. I hope California Attorney General Jerry Brown unloads an entire subdivision's worth of furniture on the EPA and its despicable director, and then I hope he reaches for the biggest can of Whoop-Ass on the market.
California and 15 other states sued the Bush administration Wednesday, seeking to overturn a federal decision last month rejecting the state's bid to curb greenhouse gases from cars and trucks.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, marks a new round in an epic five-year struggle between California and the federal government over whether states have the power to regulate carbon dioxide and other pollutants that cause global warming. ...
Under the federal Clean Air Act, California is allowed to enact stricter air pollution laws than the federal government as long as the state is given a waiver from the EPA.
Waivers have been routinely granted in roughly 50 cases during the last three decades, allowing the state to lead the way in catalytic converters, unleaded gasoline and other areas.
The Director of the EPA denied the waiver right after President Bush signed into law the new CAFE standards, basing the denial on that law which he claimed would solve the problem much more efficiently. He did so in spite of the fact that his advisors and staff at the EPA recommended unanimously that the waiver be granted (see my December 20, 2007 post for the details).
Apparently Director Johnson is going to continue that stance right into the courtroom, but he may have a few problems in that regard:
Johnson said California's standards would amount to only a 33.8 mpg equivalent.
But the technical staff of the state Air Resources Board worked feverishly through the holidays to crunch numbers. Its calculations not only disputed the EPA's fuel-efficiency estimate, but also concluded that California's rules would achieve twice the greenhouse gas reductions expected under the new federal mpg standard. ...
It will be up to the courts to sort out the numbers once EPA produces its backup studies. The agency has yet to publish the extensive documentation normally provided in the federal register, although it has agreed to release all relevant documents to congressional committees. [Emphasis added]
The documentation hasn't been provided, which can fairly lead to the inference that the documentation would actually support California's contentions, and Director Johnson and the current administration are fully aware of that.
So why the denial? Well, the American automobile manufacturers, they of the behemoth SUVs in the days of $100 a barrell oil, wanted it and still want it, even though their desires will lead to environmental catastrophe. Nice folks, them. Especially nice, apparently, in the eyes of this administration.
So, California and 15 other states have to sue their own federal government, wasting precious time and money. I hope California Attorney General Jerry Brown unloads an entire subdivision's worth of furniture on the EPA and its despicable director, and then I hope he reaches for the biggest can of Whoop-Ass on the market.
Labels: California, EPA
posted by Diane at 4:11 AM
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