Tag Archives: fuel economy

Major Tailpipe Emissions Breakthrough; Will Arnold Run And Hide From His Own Election?

The Obama Administration is poised to announce a major deal on tailpipe emissions standards, bringing the whole country under one federal standard that fairly closely appropriates what California passed in 2002 and has been trying to get a waiver from the feds about ever since.

President Obama will announce as early as Tuesday that he will combine California’s tough new auto-emissions rules with the existing corporate average fuel economy standard to create a single new national standard, the officials said. As a result, cars and light trucks sold in the United States will be roughly 30 percent cleaner and more fuel-efficient by 2016.

The White House would not divulge details, but environmental advocates and industry officials briefed on the program said that the president would grant California’s longstanding request that its tailpipe emissions standards be imposed nationally. That request was denied by the Bush administration but has been under review by top Obama administration officials since January.

But Mr. Obama is planning to go further, putting in place new mileage requirements to be administered by the Department of Transportation that would match the stringency of the California program.

Under the new standard, the national fleet mileage rule for cars would be roughly 42 miles a gallon in 2016. Light trucks would have to meet a fleet average of slightly more than 26.2 miles a gallon by 2016.

This is a major victory for California, as well as a step forward for all sides of this debate.  Auto companies, who apparently signed off on the deal, can now have certainty about their future production needs.  The states can get out of court and provide a better environment for their constituents.  And we all can breathe cleaner air while using less oil.

But the hilarious postscript must be highlighted.  Politico reports that this deal will be announced tomorrow, with California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in attendance.  As CapAlert notes, there’s just one problem: California has a statewide election tomorrow, and Arnold is not an absentee voter.  Yes, the Governor, the head cheerleader and supporter of the special election, might miss out on voting in it (although, if the announcement takes place early enough, he could be reasonably expected to make it home before the polls close at 8pm).

You know Arnold can’t resist the lure of the spotlight.  And better for him to stand at the side of a popular President than try in vain to rescue a flawed set of ballot measures which have probably already failed, given the 2 million vote-by-mail ballots already cast.  It probably appeals to him to leave town on Election Day and hide out in Washington.  That’s par for the course for him, failing to ever accept responsibility for the damage he’s caused.

…in fact, Arnold will get an emergency absentee ballot and miss his own special election.  Too perfect.

Auto Industry Resigned to California’s Leadership On Climate Change

President Obama has officially directed the EPA to review the decision to deny California (and 17 other states) a waiver under the Clean Air Act to regulate its own greenhouse gas emissions, and considering that Obama’s EPA is about to hire the lead attorney in the Supreme Court case that found the EPA has the authority regulate carbon emissions, I expect we will see the waiver granted in short order.

“For the sake of our security, our economy and our planet, we must have the courage and commitment to change,” Obama said in the East Room of the White House. “It will be the policy of my administration to reverse our dependence on foreign oil while building a new energy economy that will create millions of jobs.”

Today’s actions come as Obama seeks to fulfill campaign promises in the first days of his administration. The moves fulfill long-held goals of the environmental movement.

Lawmakers and environmentalists throughout California are hailing the move (I’ll put some reactions on the flip).  But notably, another group on board with the decisions are – wait for it – the automakers.

Auto-industry officials were surprisingly receptive to President Obama’s announcement about tightening emission standards, saying the steps he announced were the best they could hope for.

“It seems the president has set out a reasonable process,” said a top industry official who refused to be named. “He can say with credibility that there’s a new sheriff in town. Now, maybe there’s room to discuss this with stakeholders.”

The uncertainty of the process, given the Bush Administration’s failure to set standards passed by Congress in the 2007 energy bill and this looming fight over the California waiver which could have ended up in Congress or the courts, may be a factor in the auto companies’ tepid support.  So too is the fact that Obama and the federal government still partially controls the fate of the Big Three in the auto industry bailout.

Eventually, we will much to what amounts to a national standard, with 40% of the country’s population poised to back California’s emissions targets and the auto industry forced to calibrate to the higher standard.  This will SPUR innovation, not dampen it, and will eventually be a boon to an industry which has failed to adapt to changing needs for far too long.

As promised, I have some local reactions.  Here are a few from the above-linked LA Times article:

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called the actions historic. California has the most aggressive policies, though other states plan to follow California’s lead.

“Allowing California and other states to aggressively reduce their own harmful vehicle tailpipe emissions would be a historic win for clean air and for millions of Americans who want more fuel-efficient, environmentally friendly cars,” said Schwarzenegger in an e-mailed statement.

“This should prompt cheers from California to Maine,” said Frank O’Donnell, president of Clean Air Watch, speaking before today’s formal announcement. He praised Obama as “a man of his word” for the decision.

Tim Carmichael, senior policy director at the Coalition for Clean Air, hailed the decision as a vital step for the administration and the world in the fight against global warming.

“I think Obama got a clear message that this is a priority not only for California state protection but also for planetary protection,” Carmichael said.

And here’s Chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Sen. Barbara Boxer:

“I have long said that granting California the waiver so that California and 18 other states can address tailpipe emissions from cars is the best first step the President can take to combat global warming and reduce our dependence on foreign oil. It is so refreshing to see that the President understands that science must lead the way. We know that the scientists and professionals at EPA have made it clear that science and the law demand that the waiver be granted. As Chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, I will be working with the new EPA Administrator to ensure that the California waiver moves forward as quickly as possible. The President’s comments about the importance of American leadership on clean energy and global warming were also music to my ears.”

Speaker Nancy Pelosi:

“This morning, President Obama signaled that our country can no longer afford to wait to combat the climate crisis and our dangerous dependence on foreign oil.  He is setting our country on a path led by science and innovation, in a dramatic departure from the past eight years.

“Granting the request of California and other states to move forward with reducing greenhouse gases emissions from vehicles will steer American automakers to retool their fleets.  Only through innovation will automakers be able to create the greener cars of the future and regain their global competitiveness.

“President Obama has also sent a clear message on CAFE standards.  Restarting the implementation of new fuel efficiency standards will allow the Obama Administration to bring fresh thinking to the process and ensure the standards achieve the goals set by Congress in the landmark 2007 energy bill.  

“The New Direction Congress will work with President Obama to embrace a clean, renewable, and energy-independent future for America.  We look forward to building on the historic Energy Independence and Security Act with an economic recovery package that works to double renewable energy generation, invests in green infrastructure, and creates the clean energy jobs that will provide a stronger economy for the future.”

Chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, Henry Waxman:

This is a tremendous and long overdue step for energy independence and the environment. President Obama is taking the nation in a decisive new direction that will receive broad support across the country.

Obama Adminstration Prepares To Hand California A Gamechanger On Climate Change

Among the many executive orders that Barack Obama will seek to overturn to rack up some quick victories at the beginning of his term, none may have a more lasting impact than granting the waiver to California to regulate their tailpipe emissions.

The president-elect has said, for example, that he intends to quickly reverse the Bush administration’s decision last December to deny California the authority to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from automobiles. “Effectively tackling global warming demands bold and innovative solutions, and given the failure of this administration to act, California should be allowed to pioneer,” Obama said in January.

California had sought permission from the Environmental Protection Agency to require that greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles be cut by 30 percent between 2009 and 2016, effectively mandating that cars achieve a fuel economy standard of at least 36 miles per gallon within eight years. Seventeen other states had promised to adopt California’s rules, representing in total 45 percent of the nation’s automobile market. Environmentalists cheered the California initiative because it would stoke innovation that would potentially benefit the entire country.

“An early move by the Obama administration to sign the California waiver would signal the seriousness of intent to reduce the nation’s dependence on foreign oil and build a future for the domestic auto market,” said Kevin Knobloch, president of the Union of Concerned Scientists.

There are two reasons this is a major change.  One, by granting that carbon dioxide emissions threaten human welfare, you open up a whole toolkit of innovative policy choices to follow to restrict them.  Cap and trade or a carbon tax becomes not just a policy option but a madate under the EPA.  The second, as noted in the article, is that dozens of states will seek to follow the California ruling on tailpipe emissions over the federal government.  And once you have 45% of the market mandating a higher fuel efficiency standard, it is unlikely that automakers will create a secondary market at the lower standard.  You will have raised the CAFE number by default.

All of this is a recognition that the dangers of global warming is real, and that an Obama Administration will not stand in the way of sound science that declares the danger and seeks to mitigate it.  For all of the effort by polluters to save John Dingell’s chairmanship from the clutches of Henry Waxman (and they’re enlisting all the legislators they’ve bought off to that end), this executive order would have lots of reach regardless who controls global warming legislation in the Congress.  It would mean that California can control its own destiny and regulate its own air.  It will force innovation and create economic opportunity and improve public health and possibly save lives.

And it’s all a stroke of the pen away.

Friday Evening Open Thread

A few tidbits:

• Pasadena-based IndyMac becomes the second-largest bank to fail in US history.  Smells like 1929.  But don’t worry, it’s all in your head.

• Calitics friend Jackie Speier is forwarding her first piece of legislation, to set a national speed limit at 60 mph in urban areas and 65 mph on rural highways.  Slowing down to 60 mph or less significantly improves fuel efficiency.  Then again, so does not driving – as SoCal’s newest transit riders are learning.  But this is a tiny fix that could have an immediate impact on reducing gasoline use.

• Hey look, it’s Dianne Feinstein promoting a Republican-supported water bond that would build more dams (it’s a compromise measure, because some of the money earmarked for dams could go to groundwater storage and other water projects)!  Telling that Dave Cogdill immediately endorsed it while Da Don was cool.

Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland, had a tepid response, calling on the governor to first authorize $872 million in unspent water funds and reach agreement on a $15.2 billion budget shortfall before seeking a water bond in the Capitol.

“I am open to doing a water bond,” Perata said in a statement. “First, however, the state should spend the bond money voters approved in 2006, and then, we must pass a responsible budget that can pay for the debt service on a new bond.”

Use this as an open thread.

EPA Avoidance Update

Just to update on the EPA’s denial of a waiver to California to regulate its own greenhouse gas emissions – the White House is now refusing thousands of documents on the matter to Henry Waxman’s Oversight and Government Reform Committee, citing executive privilege.

“I don’t think we’ve had a situation like this since Richard Nixon was president,” said Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., the chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which is conducting the investigation.

An EPA official, Jason Burnett, has told committee investigators that EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson had favored granting the waiver but denied it after meeting with White House officials. In testimony last month, Johnson refused to say whether he’d discussed the waiver request with Bush.

The White House waited until the very day that the Oversight Committee was going to rule on contempt citations for failing to respond on this issue.  And the OMB and the EPA basically answered by saying “we’ve given you enough documents, no more documents for you.”

It’s clear that the EPA and the Bush Administration will stonewall until the day they leave office on this front, and so it’s up to the next President to make a determination on the waiver.  And all you need to know about California’s chances of being able to regulate emissions is that Obama supports the waiver, and McCain has been vague and evasive about it (not to mention he’s taken more money from oil companies than any other Presidential candidate).

Meanwhile, California is offering another regulatory solution: they’re adding a Global Warming score to the sticker of every car for sale in the state.

The California Air Resources Board said Thursday the window sticker will give consumers the information they need to choose a cleaner-burning car or light truck.

“This label will arm consumers with the information they need to choose a vehicle that saves gas, reduces greenhouse gas emissions and helps fight smog all at once,” board chairman Mary Nichols said in a statement. “Consumer choice is an especially powerful tool in our fight against climate change. We look forward to seeing these stickers on 2009 model cars as they start hitting the showrooms in the coming months.”

We’ll see if this affects consumer choice in the coming months, although the fuel economy portion of the sticker is already driving demand.  To say nothing of those 5 hydrogen fuel cell cars turning up on Southern California roads.

May Day Happenings

Tomorrow is May Day, and the combination of anniversaries – the traditional holiday for workers (that started in the United States, it is most certainly NOT a Communist holiday), a day of action in the Latino community, and the 5th anniversary of “Mission Accomplished” – means that there are goings-on all over the state tomorrow.

• Latino groups will stage a May Day rally for immigrant rights tomorrow in downtown Los Angeles.  You may remember that last year’s event in Macarthur Park ended in chaos with tear gas and brutality marring a peaceful protest.  The cops have actually been practicing and preparing so that there are no such incidents this year.  Organizers expect anywhere between 25,000-100,000.

• There’s at least one budget cut/fee increase protest being planned at Cal-State Northridge, organized by students.  It should start around 12:00 on the bookstore lawn.  I believe this is part of a continuing action by students to raise awareness about the crime Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to commit on public education this fiscal year.  There’s more at The Alliance for the CSU.

• On the anniversary of “Mission Accomplished,” True Majority and CREDO Mobile are teaming up to deliver the Responsible Plan to End The War in Iraq to incumbent House members, and urge them to sign on to the bills in the plan that have already been proposed.  The House leadership is planning on cravenly offering more money in the war supplemental than even George Bush asked for, funding it through 2009 without any checks or conditions.  This is dead wrong, and there are steps Congress can take right now to rein in military contractors, aid in the humanitarian crisis, and increase regional diplomatic efforts, instead of allowing Bush to muddle through and pass off the disaster to his successor.  You can find one of the 210 events in your area by clicking this link.

• The west coast chapters of the International Longshoreman Worker’s Union (ILWU) is planning on shutting down all west coast ports on May Day to protest the ongoing occupation of Iraq.  Information on Bay Area events is here.  There’s also information at this blog.  This is the biggest general strike I can remember, and coming from longshoremen it can hardly be considered the work of dirty hippies.  This is a very important event.

• And in what may in the final analysis be the most revolutionary event, word has it that Tesla Motors will open their very first store tomorrow in West LA, on Santa Monica Boulevard just east of the 405 Freeway, which paradoxically is one of the most congested spots in the city.  Tesla has created an electric vehicle that runs like a sports car, and in future years their sedan model will be relatively affordable while getting the equivalent of 135 miles per gallon.  As this event is the closest to me, I might actually get to this one. 🙂

Full-Court Press on the EPA

Not that I think Arnold Schwarzenegger is a Democrat or anything, but he, along with the full force of the statewide elected leadership, is pushing the EPA hard to allow the state’s greenhouse gas emission controls on vehicles to go forward.  The Supreme Court has already ruled that the EPA can regulate greenhouse gas emissions, yet the EPA is dragging its feet on giving permission to California and the other states lined up behind us.  Attorney General Jerry Brown was impassioned on this issue when meeting with regulators in Washington this week.

“This is more important than any issue that EPA’s going to have to face,” California Attorney General Jerry Brown told regulators who will recommend whether to give California the waiver it needs to implement its emissions law.

Brown asked the hearing panel to take a message to EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson.

“We want him to speak truth to power,” said Brown. “There is a tremendous influence of the oil industry. We know (Vice President) Cheney and (President) Bush are oilmen, they think like oil folks. … We say grant the waiver.”

This would be the most sweeping law regulating vehicle emissions in our nation’s history (and it was passed in 2002, pre-Mr. Green Hummer, folks), and would lead to an 18% reduction in greenhouse gases in our atmosphere due to cars by 2020.

To his credit, Schwarzenegger (along with Brown) has vowed to sue the EPA if they don’t act on this by October.  And he and Connecticut’s Jodi Rell penned a strong op-ed in the Sunday Washington Post about the issue (on the flip):

It’s bad enough that the federal government has yet to take the threat of global warming seriously, but it borders on malfeasance for it to block the efforts of states such as California and Connecticut that are trying to protect the public’s health and welfare […]

Since transportation accounts for one-third of America’s greenhouse gas emissions, enacting these standards would be a huge step forward in our efforts to clean the environment and would show the rest of the world that our nation is serious about fighting global warming […]

By continuing to stonewall California’s request, the federal government is blocking the will of tens of millions of people in California, Connecticut and other states who want their government to take real action on global warming.

If this doesn’t happen, by the way, it’s because the President signed an executive order calling for federal agencies to “continue studying” global warming until the end of 2008 (hey, that coincides with the end of his term!), which may stall any action.  Though this is a partisan blog, I think we can all agree that this is a noble effort to get the EPA to do the job the Supreme Court told it to do just one month ago, and grant the permission under the Clean Air Act to let California regulate vehicles the way it demands.  The health of our planet is at stake, and we must see action on this soon. 

You can contact the EPA yourself here.