Febuary 2009

EPA should follow California's lead on auto emissions

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency took the first formal step Friday to rectify one of the Bush administration's worst environmental legacies. It began the process that will almost certainly allow California to go ahead with setting its own greenhouse gas standards for cars and trucks.

The Bush administration not only failed to take meaningful federal action to reduce the risk of catastrophic climate change but it also blocked California's right to do so. But President Barack Obama again backed up his rhetoric of change with real action by directing the EPA to revisit the decision, and the EPA began the process by soliciting public comment.

Most observers agree the result will be that the EPA will allow California to again lead the nation.

California had requested a waiver from federal preemption so the state could require cars and trucks to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, including carbon dioxide. Since there is no known way to capture carbon dioxide coming out of a tailpipe, manufacturers would have complied by building cars and trucks that use less gasoline and diesel.

The California program was one of the real ways government can help reduce the pain at the pump, reduce our addiction to oil, and reduce the money we send to unfriendly parts of the world.

But California can only go forward if it gets a waiver from the federal government, posing a challenge for the Obama administration.

California was the only state to have a vehicle emissions program before the federal program, so it alone can request a waiver from the Clean Air Act to set its own vehicle emissions standards. EPA has granted dozens of waiver requests over several decades, but, until the recent decision, has never denied one.

This waiver request was the first to address greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change. It was also different in another important respect. President Bush did not want California to lead; he wanted a single, weaker national standard. This preference echoed the concerns of the auto manufacturers who wanted one standard to provide certainty and uniformity. This policy preference led to the denial of California's request because granting the waiver would have led to two standards, not one.

Fortunately for California, the law is on its side. EPA's review of the technical and legal merits of the California waiver request concluded that granting the waiver was the most supportable option because California had met the terms of the Clean Air Act. Therefore, courts would likely find a denial illegal.

As the head of climate policy for the EPA, I had argued that the White House should allow a full or partial grant despite President Bush's policy preference for a single standard — or better yet, let EPA make the decision. Part of our argument was that national policy should be based on the inevitable reality that California will receive a waiver, and that the California program presents an opportunity. The temporary denial might even cause the eventual program to be more difficult because manufacturers will need to make up for lost time.

I had come to the EPA to lead climate policy, but instead of allowing us to lead, the Bush White House asked us to stand in the way and deny the science. I resigned my position and went to work to elect a president who would allow EPA to follow the law.

President Obama has released the EPA from the Bush Administration straight-jacket by allowing EPA to apply the Clean Air Act as has been done for 30, almost certainly leading to an eventual grant of the waiver.

Once California gets its waiver, other states will need to choose between the California and the federal system. This competition over which policy is better should be welcomed since neither Sacramento nor Washington has all the answers. In total, states representing over half of the population have already decided the California system is best for their citizens. By lining up behind California, these states show that the California program is a good start. The challenge to the Obama administration should be to do even better at the federal level.

Jason Burnett, who lives in Carmel, was associate deputy administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, where he coordinated energy and climate change policy.