Ring in the New Year with Action on Clean Cars!
U.S. EPA Administrator Johnson ended 2007 by denying California's request for a waiver under the Clean Air Act to implement its program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions for vehicles. This is the EPA's first ever flat-out denial of a California waiver request and ran contrary to the recommendations of his legal and technical staff that he grant the waiver. Johnson rejected the waiver on the grounds that California's vehicle emission standards do not meet the "compelling and extraordinary conditions" criteria under the Clean Air Act. Hmmm…global warming not qualifying as compelling or extraordinary? We beg to differ…
Administrator Johnson also hung his arbitrary decision on the recent increase in fuel economy standards to 35 mpg by 2020. This is ridiculous! California's standards are aimed directly at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, they begin earlier and will be fully phased in by 2016 -- four years earlier than new fuel economy standards. And, California's standards have already withstood the scrutiny of a court challenge. California's standards will reduce more global warming pollution faster! Administrator Johnson's weak rationale for denying Calfornia's standards flies in the face of Massachusetts vs. EPA in which the U.S. Supreme Court expressly stated that DOT and EPA have differing roles and can both regulate vehicle standards simultaneously without conflict.
Administrator Johnson's decision also blocks the seventeen additional states that have adopted, or have indicated they will adopt, California's standards to reduce greenhouse gas pollution from cars and light trucks from moving forward with their programs. These states are Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, and Washington.
California and other state officials, along with Sierra Club, filed suit today against EPA in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Senator Boxer, Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, has invited Administrator Johnson to a field briefing in Los Angeles on January 10 to answer questions about why he denied the waiver. EPA announced that it will release all documents related to its denial of California's requested waiver, including communications with the White House, pursuant to a congressional request.
Although we are optimistic about overturning this arbitrary and unlawful decision in the courtroom, EPA has clearly demonstrated in this case its preference for politics over sound environmental policy. Take your first action of 2008 -- drop a note to Administrator Johnson and tell him how disappointed you are that the Environmental Protection Agency put politics ahead of his Agency's duty to protect public heath and the environment! Tell Administrator Johnson to get out of the way of state action on global warming! The citizens of California and the 17 other states deserve clean cars.
The Hotline, the Sierra Club's global warming e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on the fight to stop global warming. Every two weeks, you will receive an email with the information and tools to put real global warming solutions to work. |