WASHINGTON — The Bush administration Wednesday denied California's bid to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles, dealing a blow to the state's attempts to combat global warming and prompting an immediate vow from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to take the decision to court.
Environmental Protection Agency administrator Stephen L. Johnson denied the state's request to implement its own landmark law, noting that an energy bill signed by President Bush earlier in the day would go a long way toward reducing emissions throughout the United States. The bill provides the most significant increase in vehicle fuel economy standards in more than three decades.
"The Bush administration is moving forward with a clear national solution, not a confusing patchwork of state rules," Johnson said in announcing his decision.
The decision infuriated public officials and environmentalists from Washington to Sacramento, who fired the first shots in what is expected to be a pitched legal and political battle through the 2008 presidential campaign. At least 16 other states, with nearly half the nation's population, have adopted or are considering California's emission limits and could join in challenges to Wednesday's decision.
Schwarzenegger assailed the EPA for "standing in our way" to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. "California sued to compel the agency to act on our waiver, and now we will sue to overturn today's decision and allow Californians to protect our environment," he said in a prepared statement. California Air Resources Board Chairwoman Mary Nichols, whose agency requested the waiver two years ago, said there was no "patchwork" of standards. "There is a California greenhouse gas standard . . . which 16 other states would adopt, whereas there is no federal greenhouse gas standard," she said.
"The Supreme Court told EPA it has to take action on global warming. It affects our health and our environment. It's not just about fuel economy."
Congress is likely to weigh in, although lawmakers may not be able to craft legislation that could survive a presidential veto.
Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Beverly Hills), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, condemned the decision as dictated by "politics . . . not facts" and promised to launch an investigation into how the decision was reached. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) called the decision "disgraceful."
