The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency formally denied
California’s request for a Clean Air Act waiver of preemption today, blocking
the efforts of thirteen states, including New Mexico, that seek to require
automakers to cut pollution from automobile tailpipes.
“The EPA has turned a blind eye to science, law and the
critical role that the states are playing in tackling global warming,” said Environment
New Mexico Advocate Lauren Ketcham. “If the Bush administration isn’t going to
lead the way on global warming, the least they can do is get out of the way of
states that are taking action.”
In late 2004, California adopted first-of-their-kind
standards requiring cars and light-duty trucks to limit emissions that
contribute to global warming. Since
then, 12 other states—Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New
Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and
Washington—have adopted the tailpipe standards, called the Clean Cars Program,
that will cut emissions from new automobiles by 30 percent by 2016. At least five other states, including
Arizona, Minnesota and Florida, are moving ahead with adoption of the program.
The EPA sat for two years on California’s request for a
waiver under the Clean Air Act before EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson
announced in December 2007 that the agency would bar implementation of the
standards. Now, there is evidence that
Administrator Johnson acted against a unanimous recommendation of the agency’s
professional staff.
“The agency’s failure to give states the go-ahead marks a clear
political choice to cater to powerful special interests rather than moving America
forward in the fight against global warming,” said Ketcham.
California and
more than a dozen other states, including New Mexico,
have filed suit against the EPA for failing to heed science and the law in
denying California’s request for
a federal waiver of pre-emption under section 209(b) of the federal Clean Air
Act.
In addition, Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) has introduced
legislation (S. 2555) that would grant the federal waiver for California,
allowing that state and others to move forward with the program. Environment New
Mexico is working to ensure that Senators Bingaman
and Domenici support the legislation that will give states like New
Mexico the green light to put clean cars on the road.
New Mexico is
the newest state to adopt the Clean Cars Program. The New Mexico Environmental
Improvement Board and the Albuquerque-Bernalillo County Air Quality Control
Board adopted the standards in November 2007.
