Some in industry favor California CO2 rules

Harry Stoffer
Automotive News
May 22, 2007 - 8:55 am
UPDATED: 5/22/07 1:48 P.M.

WASHINGTON -- Not everyone in the auto industry is opposed to letting California and other states have their own greenhouse gas emissions rules for cars and trucks.

Dealer Adam Lee, who heads a 12-franchise group in Maine, testified at a U.S. EPA hearing today in favor of a waiver for California to implement its own rules.

Lee, who describes his Lee Auto Malls as Maine's biggest seller of hybrid vehicles, told a panel of EPA officials that automakers "need a not-so-gentle nudge" to produce more environmentally friendly vehicles.

Also testifying for the waiver was Joseph Kubsh, representing companies that make components to cut vehicle pollution. He is executive director of the Manufacturers of Emission Controls Association.

That left an official of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers as the only industry witness against granting a waiver under the Clean Air Act.

But Doug Greenhaus of the National Automobile Dealers Association, observing from the audience, told Automotive News that NADA will be submitting written comments against the waiver. He is NADA's director of environment, health and safety.

At today's hearing Steven Douglas of the alliance testified that California has failed to prove that its "regulations would help address the issue of climate change or global warming in a concrete manner" or improve air quality.

He is director of environmental affairs for the alliance, representing the Detroit 3, Toyota and five other automakers.

Numerous witnesses from states and environmental groups lined up to testify in favor of allowing California to implement vehicle emissions different from those of the federal government.

A second hearing is set for May 30 in Sacramento.

EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson has promised to move expeditiously but responsibly on the explosive issue, which could force automakers to make fundamental changes in cars and trucks.

Eleven other states have adopted the California-style rules, which require an estimated 30 percent reduction in greenhouse gases from cars and trucks by 2016. Together with California, those states have nearly 40 percent of the U.S. new-vehicle market.

Automakers and dealers have challenged the rules in federal courts as an illegal attempt to regulate fuel economy, a power reserved by the federal government. The main greenhouse gas is carbon dioxide, a byproduct of burning fuel but also a natural part of the atmosphere.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Connecticut Gov. Jodi Rell, both Republicans, said Monday, May 21, that "it borders on malfeasance" for the federal government to block efforts by states to protect public health and welfare from the effects of climate change. The remarks were in a joint column published by the Washington Post.

California submitted its waiver request 16 months ago.

The EPA has granted frequent waivers over the years to California to have air pollution rules different from those of the federal government.

But the Bush administration held the position that the EPA could not regulate -- and could not authorize states to regulate -- carbon dioxide under the Clean Air Act. The law is aimed primarily at toxic pollution and tailpipe emissions that cause lung-damaging smog.

But the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on April 2 that the EPA must determine if greenhouse gases pose a threat to public health and, if so, to regulate them, using the Clean Air Act.

Meanwhile, Congress is considering a range of measures to cut petroleum consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.

Douglas, in his testimony for automakers today, said industry support for a comprehensive national solution makes a patchwork of state rules "not just unnecessary but actually counterproductive."