EPA Waiver Update: Boxer, Waxman Charging Ahead

by David Dayen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

When we last left EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson, his agency was facing a lawsuit from California and over a dozen other states over his failure to grant a waiver allowing tailpipe emission regulation.  It was fairly clear that this decision was wholly political and in no way matching the scientific studies inside the EPA; Johnson's staff was unanimously opposed to the decision.  Last week, Sen. Boxer chaired a field hearing in Los Angeles to investigate what was behind the denial of the waiver.  Johnson failed to attend.  This is from an email:

California Attorney General Jerry Brown, California Air Resources Board Chair Mary Nichols, the Sierra Club's Carl Pope, the NRDC's Fran Pavley, and Congresswoman Hilda Solis all appeared as witnesses.  Unfortunately, one chair at the briefing was noticeably empty:  the seat we reserved for EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson.

Clearly, EPA Administrator Johnson does not want California and 18 other states to implement California's higher emission standard for automobiles -- a key part of our fight against global warming -- but the public deserves to know why.  We can't let Administrator Johnson hide the truth from the American people.

At the hearing, Attorney General Brown called on Boxer to subpoena Johnson and all of the relevant documents that went into the decision.  Boxer is planning a hearing on January 24th with the EPA Administrator, and she's attempting to use public pressure to get Johnson to release the documents.  She's asking supporters to forward Johnson this email (over):

Dear Administrator Johnson,

I urge you explain why the EPA denied a request from California and 18 other states to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles, and to release all documents surrounding how the decision was made.

You would have us believe that granting California's waiver request would establish a complicated "patchwork" of state regulation standards. But in reality, 14 other states have joined California and would use our higher standard, and 4 more states intend to do the same.  The national government should encourage -- not stymie --the efforts of nineteen states to fight global warming.  

Last year, you told Senator Boxer's Committee that the EPA needed more time to make a decision on California's waiver request because it was "performing a rigorous analysis." However, according to an article in the Washington Post, you ignored the advice of your technical and legal staff and denied our waiver request anyway.

We deserve to know the truth about why, over the unanimous advice of your own technical and legal staffers, you rejected California's legitimate waiver request -- waivers which have been issued 50 times in the past and never denied.

I urge you to explain to the public why you denied California's waiver request, and release all related documents to reveal how the decision was made.

Meanwhile, House Oversight Committee chair Henry Waxman has also demanded the documents, and is scheduling interviews with EPA employees about Johnson's decision.  These are two ornery committee chairs that will not let up on the EPA.

Let me also commend Hillary Clinton for being the first Presidential candidate to address this issue, lauding the state's decision to take the EPA to court.

Stay tuned.

UPDATE: Sean from Warming Law has more.