WASHINGTON — California presented its case Tuesday for permission to impose tough new limits on greenhouse gas emissions by cars and trucks, pressing a campaign that state officials hope will set the stage for aggressive action nationwide on a major contributor to global warming.
The state called on the Environmental Protection Agency to end 16 months of delays on California's application for a waiver that would allow it to go beyond federal standards on vehicle emissions -- chiefly carbon dioxide -- whose complicity in climate change is now widely accepted.
The Bush administration has long viewed the issue with skepticism.
The EPA had argued that it did not have the power to regulate greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act because they were not pollution like the gases and particles that cause smog. The Supreme Court rejected that position in April, ruling that the agency had the authority to deal with greenhouse gases.
But the court did not order EPA to act, and President Bush earlier this month gave federal agencies until December 2008 to formulate positions on the issue -- opening the possibility that federal action could be delayed until after he leaves office. And automakers, who object to states setting standards, have challenged California's move in federal court.
California, propelled by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, took the lead in pushing for the right to act on its own, mandating reduced emissions by 2009. Other states were right behind. Eleven, concentrated in the Northeast, are seeking waivers from the EPA; Arizona and New Mexico are considering similar action.
Under the Clean Air Act, California is entitled to set stricter pollution standards than the federal government because of the severity of its air problems, but only if the EPA waives the provision that says federal standards supersede state requirements.
Supporting the state's position, California Atty. Gen. Edmund G. Brown Jr. told the EPA that "Congress has to allow California to blaze its own trail with a minimum of federal oversight."
State officials argued that California was capable of setting its own greenhouse standards for motor vehicles because it had successfully implemented many strict standards on other kinds of pollution.
In addition to pressing its case at the EPA administrative hearing Tuesday, the state lobbied for congressional support at a hearing by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, which is led by California Sen. Barbara Boxer.
