California Sues Feds over Greenhouse Emissions

By Anastacia Mott Austin

The state of California applied over two years ago for a waiver from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in order to be allowed to enforce stricter greenhouse gas emissions controls in the state.

Tired of waiting for a response, California’s State Attorney General Jerry Brown has filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of the state of California to force the EPA to decide whether or not to issue a waiver.

California governor Arnold Shwarzenegger said at a news conference, "California is ready to implement the nation’s cleanest standards for vehicle emissions, but we cannot do that until the federal government grants us a waiver allowing us to enforce those standards."

Under the federal Clean Air Act, states may enact tougher emissions laws than federal laws require, as long as they show "extraordinary and compelling conditions" in order to be granted a waiver.

Though the EPA has granted over 50 such waivers to California in past years, the issue at hand until now has always been smog – a problem unique to a small number of states like California.

Opponents of the lawsuit, such as auto makers, claim that because every state faces issues over greenhouse gases, California is not in a unique position to acquire a waiver.

However, previous cases have determined that every state does have the right to claim protections from greenhouse gases in order to protect its own unique environmental features such as forests or state wildlife preserves. The recent droughts in California (arguably caused by climate changes due in part to greenhouse gas emissions), for example, contributed to the devastating recent fires in the southern part of the state.

California passed a state law in 2002 mandating that all new vehicles, beginning in 2009, adhere to stricter emissions requirements, either by improving gas mileage, using alternative fuels, or some other technology to meet the new standards. The goal is to reduce current levels of emissions by 30 percent by the year 2016.

Sixteen other states have adopted similar laws, but under the federal guidelines of the Clean Air Act, must wait until California receives its waiver in order to enact their own measures. Fourteen other states and a number of environmental groups have asked to join California’s suit.

Some are frustrated at the long wait. Danielle Fugers, a representative of Friends of the Earth, told reporters, "The Bush administration, apparently not content to block progress at the federal level, is trying to hold back states’ progress, too. If the federal government isn’t going to take the lead, the least it can do is get out of the states’ way."

State Attorney General Jerry Brown says that political arguments should be left out of the discussion, telling the press, "[It’s] not about politics. It’s about science, it’s about human well-being and it’s about innovation."

The Governator agrees. Says Shwarzenegger, "Our health and our environment are too important to delay any longer."