LOS ANGELES AND WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency will hold a hearing today at the behest of President Obama on whether California and 13 other states should be allowed to regulate vehicle tailpipe emissions.
It's a matter of utmost importance to carmakers, which have argued that compliance could cost them billions of dollars amid the industry's worst downturn in decades. Yet no automakers will be testifying at the Washington hearing to rebut environmental groups and others favoring strict rules.
Instead, two trade groups representing the largest car companies will make what are expected to be measured presentations focused on being "a part of solutions that work," General Motors spokesman Greg Martin said. The only fireworks are expected to come from a car dealers group.
Is this a kinder, gentler auto industry? Not likely. Instead, say experts familiar with the industry and Capitol Hill, the automakers are just being political realists. With all automakers hurting, and GM and Chrysler requesting $21.6 billion on top of the $17.4 billion in taxpayer funding they've already received, now is hardly the time to protest.
"I think they're under a lot of pressure to be quiet because they're asking for billions and billions of dollars," said Adam Lee, president of 12 Maine dealerships and a supporter of more stringent emissions rules.
The silent treatment marks an about-face for the industry, which has long opposed stricter regulation, including the seat belt and catalytic converter. When California adopted its rule requiring carmakers to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2016, automakers took the lead in fighting it, suing multiple times to block it.
They lost but delayed implementation by almost five years. In December 2007, the Bush administration denied a normally pro forma waiver California needed from the EPA to begin implementing the regulation.
But Obama called on the EPA to revisit the waiver, saying that "now is the time to make tough choices."
Since then, the administration has discussed the implications of a waiver -- and the potential for a blanket national policy on emissions and fuel economy standards -- with the automakers as part of the ongoing restructuring talks.
