Governors protest emissions language

 

Jun 8 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Kathie Durbin The Columbian, Vancouver, Wash.

Gov. Chris Gregoire and seven other governors are protesting language in a House energy bill that would nullify a strict state tailpipe emissions standard for cars and light trucks.

The standard, which becomes effective with 2009-model vehicles, is a key part of Gregoire's strategy for reducing Washington's carbon footprint. The Washington Legislature, following California's lead, adopted the standard in 2005, and Oregon followed in 2006. Nine other states, most of them in the Northeast, have adopted the standard.

"This legislation pre-empts our states' critical effort to combat climate change by enacting regulations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions," the governors said in a letter sent Thursday to U.S. Rep. Rick Boucher, the Virginia Democrat who authored the language. "While federal action is necessary and long overdue on climate change, Congress must not deny states the right to pursue solutions in the absence of federal policy."

The standard requires that cars sold in Washington and the other states must cut carbon dioxide emissions by 25 percent and sport utility vehicles must emit 18 percent less of that greenhouse gas than current models beginning in 2009.

It is opposed by U.S. auto manufacturers, who have lobbied to take away the authority of individual states to regulate auto emissions. Collectively, the states that have adopted the standard represent one-third of the automobile market.

Then-state Rep. Ed Murray, now a state senator, said when Washington adopted the standard that the combined buying power of the states would force automakers to build cars that meet the standard at reasonable prices.

But automakers have said that meeting the standard would drive up the cost of new cars by thousands of dollars.

Boucher chairs a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee that is writing a broad federal energy bill. The measure would impose federal fuel efficiency standards for passenger cars after 2021, create a low-carbon fuel standard, and push the auto industry to boost production of vehicles that run on alternative fuels such as ethanol.

But his amendment to the bill also would prohibit the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from issuing the waiver California needs to impose the new standard if it is intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. California has threatened to sue the EPA if it doesn't grant the waiver.

Boucher has said it is important to have "unified regulations" regarding greenhouse gas emissions, and that letting states adopt their own standards would lead to "regulatory confusion."

His bill, which is opposed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other House Democrats, also would reverse an April U.S. Supreme Court decision that said the EPA has authority to regulate greenhouse gases from cars and trucks. The bill would transfer that authority to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Massachusetts and other states including Washington brought the lawsuit, arguing that the EPA does have the authority to regulate greenhouse gases.

"Our states are at the forefront of the effort to reduce greenhouses and our nation's dependence on carbon-based fuels," the governors said in their letter, which was drafted by the office of California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. "Climate change is real, and it impacts the public health and welfare of every American. Congress must preserve states' ability to fight greenhouse gas emissions now."

The threat to Washington's ability to regulate tailpipe emissions comes as Gregoire's Climate Advisory Team works to develop a set of climate change initiatives for consideration by the 2008 Legislature. Among them is a proposal to adopt another California initiative, which would set a low-carbon fuel standard for transportation fuels.

Bob Elliott, executive director of the Southwest Clean Air Agency in Vancouver, said auto manufacturers oppose letting states regulate vehicle carbon dioxide emissions because those standards would require them to build more fuel-efficient vehicles. The Bush administration has opposed requiring tightening fuel-efficiency standards, known as Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards.

"They want us to be talking about changing the type of fuel they use," Elliott said. "They don't want us to be talking about changing the CAFE standards."

 

The Associated Press contributed to this story.