Judge Allows California Clean Car Standards to Move Forward

Wow, this is huge.  The automakers are now 0-2 after losing their case to keep the federal government from regulating greenhouse gases from the automotive sector, and now they lose one of their attempts to block California and other forward-minded states from enacting their clean car standards.

I’m proud to say that we’ve had a part to play in all this.  Here’s our statement on this major victory:

FEDERAL COURT RULES AUTOMAKERS HAVE TECHNOLOGY TO MAKE CLEANER CARS; UPHOLDS STATE TAILPIPE STANDARD CURBING GLOBAL WARMING POLLUTION

STATEMENT BY MICHELLE ROBINSON, UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS

WASHINGTON (September 12, 2007) -  A federal judge in Vermont today ruled that states can regulate vehicle global warming pollution, rejecting U.S. automakers claims that they don't have the technology to meet the new standards and that they are pre-empted by federal law.

The judge, William K. Sessions, reviewed analysis by Union of Concerned Scientists when making his deliberations. Earlier this year, UCS unveiled a vehicle design, dubbed the Vanguard, which would exceed the state standard by cutting global warming pollution by more than 40 percent using conventional, off-the-shelf technology. (For more information, go to: www.ucsusa.org/clean_vehicles/vehicles_health/ucs-vanguard.html.)

Below is a statement by Michelle Robinson, director of the Clean Vehicles Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists.

"This stunning ruling will be seen as a turning point in the fight to protect Americans from the worst consequences of global warming. Today, Judge Sessions affirmed what we at the Union of Concerned Scientists have been saying for years: Automakers have the technology today to meet this global warming pollution standard in a cost-effective way. Vermont and 11 other states have been leading the way by adopting this standard that originated in California, and now the federal government should adopt a standard that is at least as stringent.

"Meanwhile, the Environmental Protection Agency now has no excuse to stand in the way of state implementation. If the agency granted the necessary waiver, the dozen states that have adopted the standard would be able to cut as a much as 100 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions in 2020."

Posted by: ScottN

Comments

[Arthur Browning]

"The Nobel Prize for the Affordable Electric Car" - read this "Energy Crisis or Political Profiteering?" at
http://ezinearticles.com/?Energy-Crisis-or-Political-Profiteering?&id=725936

[Chessiak]

All Hale to California! Energy standards are a necessary step to getting the USA off its reliance on too much oil! I just wish the car companies would get on board...it seems that if they just followed popular opinion and made more efficient cars, it would be a win win situation. Instead, The Big Three are down in Washington spending money trying to convince Congress not to pass an energy bill that would create a fuel standard of 35 mpg on average by 2020. This is such an achievable marker that it makes me crazy that they fight so hard not to get it passed. I urge you to click on http://www.energybill2007.org and sign the petition in order to make the score 0-3.

[Red Hot]

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