01/25 7:33A (DJ) =DJ Senate Bill Would Put Calif Auto-Emissions Rules Into
Effect
Story 2437 (C.XX, F, GE, US3696041033, I/AUT, I/IDD, I/XDJGI, I/XDJI...)
By Siobhan Hughes
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
(This article was originally published Thursday)
WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--With the backing of leading Democratic presidential
candidates, the chairwoman of the Senate Environment and Public Works on
Thursday introduced a bill that would put into effect California's
first-in-the-nation rules to regulate greenhouse-gas emissions from motor
vehicles.
If put into law, the measure would deal a blow to the automobile industry,
which last year reluctantly came around to a new federal law that raises
gas-mileage standards for the first time in more than three decades. They hope
to avoid rules of the sort adopted by California, which the state says are
tougher than the new federal standards. Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., the
panel chairwoman, is also author of the legislation.
California's rules may only take hold if the Environmental Protection Agency
grants a waiver from the Clean Air Act. EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson late
last month blocked the rules, the first time the EPA has ever denied such a
waiver. Johnson maintained that California wasn't unique in facing the threat
of global warming and therefore didn't need its own rules.
His decision, announced on the same day that President Bush signed into law
the measure that raises fuel economy standards, has prompted Democrats to cry
foul. On Thursday, Johnson came under attack from Senate Democrats, who at a
hearing questioned whether the EPA's decision was due to political tampering
rather than on the merits. Johnson said he made the decision himself, based on
the law and the facts.
Among the bill's 15 other sponsors are Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and
Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., who are locked in a tight race for their party's
nomination. With global warming an increasingly important issue for voters,
the two presidential candidates have moved almost in lock step to show their
backing for policies favored by environmentalists.
The bill's prospects are unclear but, at a minimum, Boxer is hoping to keep
the pressure on the EPA.
"I will use every available tool to ensure that California and the nation
are able to reduce the pollution that causes global warming," she said in a
statement. "One of those tools is legislation that essentially overturns Mr.
Johnson's actions."
-By Siobhan Hughes, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-6654;
siobhan.hughes@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
01-25-08 0733ET
Copyright (c) 2008 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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