California 1, US 0
The Obama Administration has taken the first steps toward withdrawing EPA’s objections to a California's effort to implement tough emission standards for automobiles. Could that be bad news for those hungry for federal action on transportation emissions?
At first glance, the news seems to be a win for federal leadership, since the lifting of the roadblock in Washington makes California's efforts possible. But the roadblock's removal could soon be seen as a victory for the states. And that could end up leaving Washington's aspirations to lead the regulation of emissions from cars in the dust.
For years, the Bush administration rebuffed California's effort to regulate carbon emissions from cars, officially a waiver of a Clean Air Act allowing the state to regulate greenhouse gases (GHGs) in automobiles. The automobile industry has objected strongly to state-based regulation efforts, stating that different standards in different states are confusing and expensive. In practice, state standard-making forces the industry to design cars to meet all standards, which means the decision is up to the strictest state with a market that the autos can't ignore. Enter the California Air Resources Board.
If Congressional action doesn't follow an Obama decision in due course, we'll all be looking to the states led by bellwether California for emission standards for the auto industry. And how might the auto manufacturers best proceed to get the best deal from Congress in the Obama era? Consensus solutions and public-private collaboration to break policy deadlock are the new watchwords. The auto manufacturers might take a page from the many highly diverse multi-stakeholder groups that have sprung up recently to address everything from climate legislation to chemical testing and production.
The manufacturers might be well advised at this point to ask key state and federal agencies, labor unions, fleet purchasers, non-governmental environmental and consumer organizations, and other potential legislative “deal-breakers” to join with them in fashioning a single omnibus vehicle performance standard for mileage, emissions, air-conditioning refrigerant, electrification, and other green elements. This might be the best path to a uniform federal approach to autos in climate legislation.
http://www.climatechangeinsights.com/admin/trackback/107717
