More on the Supremes
The Supreme Court - the name says it all. A decision is made, and its supreme implications trickle down to lower courts near you, especially if you’re in California.
In 2002, California passed AB32, or the Pavley law, setting standards for automobiles (starting model year 2009) that would cut emissions 30%. The decision was approved by the California Air Resources Board but was put on hold when car industry leaders filed a claim against the state’s authority. (Both Grist and the New York Times go into a little bit more detail.)
The California judge has been delaying his decision in anticipation of Supreme Court’s ruling, and similar cases are pending in several states across the Union. Now that the ruling has been made, their decisions are expected to rapidly fall in sync.
How does this translate into action? Well, it doesn’t necessarily. It means that states wanting automobile emission standards more strict than those set by the federal government are allowed to pursue them. So it removes an obstacle. They have to receive a waiver from the EPA, but are now more likely to be granted one. States do not have to act, but ones that want to, will (and have).
It also may fare well for climate legislation. For example, Sen. Dingell (D-Mich.), who has always kept Detroit’s auto interests a priority, said about the verdict: “Today’s ruling provides another compelling reason why Congress must enact, and the president must sign, comprehensive climate change legislation.”
If better fuel economy or pollutant standards are going to hurt the auto industry, Dingell prefers other sectors of the economy (such as electricity) at least equally burdened with responsibility. As a result, a cap-and-trade program may start showing up more prevalently on interested parties’ radars.
Slowly but surely, the climate is finally manuveuring its way through Washington, DC.
April 4th, 2007 at 2:26 pm
I live in California, and it’s still a bit puzzling to me as to whether this is actually going to make something happen here, though I certainly hope it does! There are 25 million registered vehicles in this state, and drivers here suck up 2.2 billion gallons of gas every month, so the cleaner, the better for us all.
Janis Mara
www.ecotality.com