LOS ANGELES AND WASHINGTON — reporting from washington President Obama moved on two fronts Monday to force automakers to produce more fuel-efficient vehicles, including a major step in permitting California and other states to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.
Lawmakers and environmentalists said the president's actions paved the way to development of a national carbon standard for automobiles.
Such a standard already is in force in Europe and Japan. Crafting a national rule would please environmentalists, but surprisingly could also satisfy the automobile industry, which has argued that trying to comply with a California greenhouse gas rule in addition to a federal mileage standard would be cumbersome and costly.
Allowing California and 13 other states to enforce the tailpipe rules could amount to a live test run for a federal greenhouse gas regulation, which would probably be written by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under authority granted it by the Clean Air Act, observers say.
"Today I'm announcing the first steps on our journey toward energy independence, as we develop new energy, set new fuel-efficiency standards and address greenhouse gas emissions," said Obama, who signed an executive order asking the EPA to reevaluate a proposal by California and 13 other states to enforce their own tailpipe emissions standards. "The federal government must work with, not against, states to reduce greenhouse gas emissions."
Obama also instructed the Department of Transportation to implement new federal fuel economy standards and touted some $90 billion in clean-energy spending in the massive stimulus bill pending in Congress, including an apparent tenfold increase in federal assistance for the development of super-efficient automobiles.
For California to regulate carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions, it needs a waiver from the EPA. In December 2007, the Bush administration refused to grant it, even though the state has received dozens of waivers over the years to regulate soot and other pollutants. The news that the Obama administration ordered the EPA to reconsider was warmly received in both Sacramento and Washington.
"Allowing California and other states to aggressively reduce their own harmful vehicle tailpipe emissions would be a historic win for clean air and for millions of Americans who want more fuel-efficient, environmentally friendly cars," said Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. "It would be great to actually do this nationwide so that car manufacturers don't just have two standards but that they only have one."
