Some news came across the Autoblog wires this evening pertaining to the efforts of California to establish their own regulations on CO2 emissions. I wrote this post awhile back about the lawsuit California filed against the EPA. California was using the lawsuit to force the EPA to make a decision on whether or not to give the state a waiver to create their own separate standards. Well, the response came in and California was denied! Thanks to the recent CAFE standards passed by President Bush the EPA told CARB to shove it. The EPA feels that the CAFE regulations are tight enough to burden auto manufactures through 2020 when they come into full effect. California was hoping to phase in their standards by 2016.
The press release I was directed two worded this whole situation quite drastically. The title is "EPA Denies States the Right to Fight Global Warming." Talk about over the top. Not too surprising though since the press release did come from the Environmental Defense Fund. Not getting the ability to create ridiculous regulations that create increased stress on fragile domestic automakers is not quite being denied the right to fight global warming. There are many things a state can do to limit carbon emissions from vehicles without putting restrictions on automobiles sold in the state. For instance it would be nice if California actually had a decent public transportation system, then people might not drive so much. I'm not talking about crappy buses that run over cyclists and plow through red lights. I am talking about rails. When I'm in LA I miss the existence of a quality Metro Rail System like I get to use in Washington D.C. The rail system in LA pretty much all heads to Downtown. Since I moved out of Downtown LA, I never need to go there. I would however, like to go from Marina Del Rey to say Torrance conveniently without emitting global warming gases while idling at traffic lights.
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