Link to Inhofe EPW Press Blog
Should California decide what kind of cars the rest of America drives? Should families in Kansas City, Cleveland, Detroit, Indianapolis, or Little Rock, drive vehicles mandated by bureaucrats in Sacramento? This is no mere speculation; it's the logical outgrowth of the "historic" auto deal, the "One National Program" for fuel economy and greenhouse gas (GHG) standards, crafted in secret last May by the state of California, White House Climate Czar Carol Browner, and auto company executives.
As stated in a
letter sent today by the
Auto Alliance, the deal gives California the keys to set fuel economy standards for the entire country. It requires the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which sets federal fuel economy standards, and EPA, which had initiated its rulemaking to set GHG standards for mobile sources, to "coordinate their rulemaking processes and promulgate a joint regulation establishing consistent fuel economy and greenhouse gas emission standards for model years 2012-2016." In turn, California, which wanted to set its own GHG standards for cars, and which was granted the authority to do that by the Obama EPA, agreed that "manufacturers who complied with federal greenhouse gas rules would be deemed to be in compliance with the state standards for model years 2012-2016." On top of that, the auto companies agreed to suspend litigation against California and the 13 states that chose to follow California's new GHG standards.
Sound like a good deal? Think again. The problem is California, which sees this deal as a spring board to tougher standards after 2017. California believes it has the authority under the Clean Air Act to set its own GHG standards-and it wants to make them tougher than what the feds have proposed. This could create the very patchwork the autos want to avoid. Or it could force yet another deal after 2017 in which the Golden State reigns supreme.
Consider the remarks of Paul Hughes, the program manager for the
California Air Resources Board (CARB) Low Emissions Vehicle program. As he said recently: "California's efforts are aimed to move out in front and establish where we need to be by 2050. This is the first step in that process through 2025, and we expect we'll be coordinating on the national level to achieve a harmonized program in the future." Mary Nichols, the director of CARB, was equally grandiose: "The time has come to move beyond dealing separately with the pollutants we have regulated successfully and the recent focus on those that are building up in the atmosphere. We need to look out more than a few years and envision the car of the future." In other words, California will set national emissions standards, thereby dictating the type of cars Americans drive.
The Auto Alliance is not blind to this threat, as it clearly expressed fear of California's dreams beyond 2017. "It's time for Congress and the Administration," the Alliance wrote, "to enact and implement measures to make a national program
permanent for 2017 and beyond." [Emphasis added]
We see great merit in reducing dependence on foreign oil and promoting automotive innovation and technology. But we also see, and wish to thwart, the economic bomb dropping after 2017, as California seeks to impose its automotive vision on the entire nation. California saw the future in a new vehicle mandate in the 1990s. In the face of reality, the state weakened the mandate over time. The mandate has been costly and has failed to make meaningful improvements in air quality.
So much for the "historic" auto deal; California is in the driver's seat. Meanwhile, assertions persist that the deal will unravel upon passage of Sen. Murkowski's
resolution of disapproval on EPA's
endangerment finding. This is simply false, as the general counsel of NHTSA recently conceded. The deal has no legal basis-it merely serves as a launching pad to realize California's green vision writ large.
California is suffering from 12 percent unemployment (the national rate is 9.7 percent), a $24 billion state budget deficit, and burdened with disastrous job killing global warming taxes and regulation. California's auto dreams should be a wake-up call for the nation.
