by David Dayen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

The Bush Administration's Department of Transportation proposal to raise fuel economy rates faster than Congress mandated last fall comes with a catch - obliterating California's proposal to regulate tailpipe emissions.  Think Progress has the relevant passage in the report.

(b) As a state regulation related to fuel economy standards, any state regulation regulating tailpipe

carbon dioxide emissions from automobiles is expressly preempted under 49 U.S.C. 32919.

(c) A state regulation regulating tailpipe carbon dioxide emissions from automobiles, particularly a regulation that is not attribute-based and does not separately regulate passenger cars and light trucks, conflicts with:

1. The fuel economy standards in this Part

2. The judgments made by the agency in establishing those standards, and

read more »

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By David Dayen
d-day

Just a few things to get you through the weekend:

• If you're interested in helping Barack Obama but aren't flying to Ohio or Texas like Brian and Julia, the Obama campaign is urging supporters in California to make phone calls into Texas this weekend. MoveOn is also running Yes We Can parties on Saturday and Sunday.

• Let's not give the Governor a heap of credit just yet for accepting the Legislative Analyst's suggestions to close billions of dollars in tax loopholes. According to the Sacramento Bee he ran away from this proposal within a matter of hours.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger told business leaders Thursday he supports a proposal by nonpartisan Legislative Analyst Elizabeth Hill to rescind $2.7 billion in tax credits, but he later softened that stance and said he doesn't necessarily support all of her recommendations.

The Governor will be in Columbus this weekend for the Arnold Classic, an annual bodybuilding and fitness event, so if you get a minute, Juls, you can go ask him about this yourself!

by David Dayen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

by Julia Rosen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

Sen. Barbara Boxer's digging into documents on the decision by the EPA not to issue a waiver to California so we can regulate tailpipe emissions is bearing some serious fruit.  The EPA staff went to great lengths to try and persuade the Bush lacky Steven L. Johnson not to overrule them and precedent and deny California the right to reduce greenhouse gases in our state.  LAT:

Some officials at the Environmental Protection Agency were so worried their boss would deny California permission to implement its own global-warming law that they worked with a former EPA chief to try to persuade the current administrator to grant the state's request.

That unusual effort was revealed by documents released Tuesday by congressional investigators probing whether EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson was swayed by political pressure when he decided not to allow California to enact vehicle emission standards stricter than the federal government's.

They actually even supplied him with talking points to lobby Johnson with. (flip it)

by David Dayen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Well, we knew it was going to happen, but it doesn’t make it any less ridiculous: the EPA has denied California and 16 other states the right to limit tailpipe emissions from vehiclesas part of the state’s plan to combat global warming, reports the SFChron. California and the other states, representing nearly half of theUS population, have long been planning to sue the EPA in anticipationof this outcome. Let’s hope they win.

Frank Russo at the California Progress Report points out that the US Supreme Court came to the opposite of the EPA’s conclusionabout the applicability of the Clean Air Act to limiting carbonemissions, in Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency. He alsonotes that the EPA’s refusal to grant California a waiver jeopardizeslegislation which the state has already passed, including AB 32.

by David Dayen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]