California Suing for Action on Greenhouse Gas Emissions

by Julia Rosen [courtesy of Working Californians blogs]

This has been on to do list for California for a while. Back in 2002, California passed a law to regulate greenhouse gas emissions coming out of car tail pipes. It would force the car industry to make more environmentally friendly vehicles. The goal is obviously to reduce global warming. Unfortunately, the state does not currently have the power to enforce the regulations. To do that we need a waiver from the U.S. EPA. The Bush administration has been purposely dragging its feet. So, today California sued the federal government. LAT:

The U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way last summer for the EPA to approve state regulations to limit emissions of greenhouse gas from automobile tailpipes. But no action has been forthcoming.

The EPA has said it will act on the state's request by year's end, but today's move was a major assault on the federal government's perceived lack of action on what many national and world leaders consider the No. 1 threat to the planet.

"There's no legal basis for Washington to stand in our way," said Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who announced the filing of the lawsuit on the state Capitol steps along with California Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown.

No more waiting around for the Bush administration to do the right thing. They don't want to. Thus the state has been forced to take legal action. We are joined by a number of other states.

The governor noted that 14 other states are formally siding with California in two lawsuits in U.S. District Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington.

California and the other states -- representing about 40% of the U.S. population -- have asked for a waiver from the EPA under the Clean Air Act so they can enforce regulations that limit emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from cars and other light vehicles.

These regulations would enable California to cut our carbon emissions by 1/4th in 2020, the equivalent of taking 6.5 million vehicles off of our roads. This is a huge deal and a lot is at stake.