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.

• Do read Robert in Monterey’s report about Abel Maldonado, Don Perata’s best buddy, running as a write-in candidate in the Democratic primary to stall an attempt to get an opponent on the November ballot.  First of all, this is an example of why crossfiling should be banned once and for all.  Second, Abel Maldonado is a snake and I can now see why Don Perata would knock on doors for him.  Apparently, neither of them have much interest in the democratic process.

• Arnold thinks the legalization of gender-neutral marriage will be a boost to the sluggish economy, but I hope he’s not basing his entire budget on a sharp uptick in gay weddings.  I mean, there are only so many Mr. Sulus rich enough to have that surge register more than a blip.  By the way, good for Mr. Sulu.  And good for Ellen DeGeneres for telling Straight Talk Express where to shove it.

• Speaking of John W. McCain, he’s in California today.  Nobody show him the PPIC numbers!

• Lucas mentioned this, but Darrell Issa got in the middle of a heated exchange between Henry Waxman and EPA Adminstrator Stephen Johnson over the EPA’s breaking the Clean Air Act.  Emptywheel has video:

• Why Fabian Nuñez is claiming racial bias at this late date over questions about his travel practices is completely beyond me.  And he’s taken to Spanish-language television for these accusations to stoke divisiveness in the Latino community, too.  It’s so counterproductive, as well as misleading.

• Speaking of Spanish-speaking media, this is an older story, but it’s fascinating to me that the Spanish-language channels in LA are so much more substantive than the English-language ones, featuring longer, “more deeply reported” pieces.

• We could see a settlement very shortly on prison overcrowding in the state which would not require early release.  There are some decent components to this deal, but it basically gives everyone three more years to clean up their act, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it just puts us in the same siutation come 2011.  The policies needed are well-known; the political will remains elusive.

• The Bay Area AQMD passed a carbon tax for businesses that emit greenhouse gases.  It’s “not enough to change behavior,” one expert said, but it does presage what may be coming down the pike for polluters.  Whether you get there through selling carbon permits at auction or with a tax, the bottom line is that pollution is going to cost enough money to alter business’ approach to engaging in it.  This is a good step.

• Interesting that we denied the endorsement to Rep. Laura Richardson (CA-37) on the same day that she is forced to defend herself against allegations that she walked away from her foreclosed home in Sacramento.  It sounds like the Congresswoman renegotiated the loan, but the conservative fever swamps are all over this one (check the comments in that LAT blog post).  She did buy the half-million-dollar home with no money down, and then left Sacramento almost immediately after winning election to fill the open seat in Congress.

Several developing developments to close out your week today.

The Dump Denham folks are turning in 50,000 signatures in support of the effort.  Just over 31,000 valid signatures are required to qualify.  Seems that we should start getting geared up for this one.

Rep. Waxman is continuing the agitation on the California EPA waiver, dropping subpoenas for documents reviewed by the EPA before rejecting California emission regulations.

Sacramento Bee’s Ed Board weighs in on the double bubble trouble and is none too pleased with Los Angeles County’s screwy ballots or acting Registrar Dean Logan. (full disclosure: I work for the Courage Campaign)

55 people were indicted over welfare fraud that snagged millions in a scheme centered around fake child care facilities in and around Los Angeles.

Speaking of Los Angeles, I’ll be there tomorrow for no particular reason and with nothing particular to do.  Or as Bran Van 3000 says

But we did nothing, absolutely nothing that day, and I say:

What the hell am I doing drinking in L.A. at 26?

I got the fever for the flavor, the payback will be later, still I need a fix.

When we last left EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson, his agency was facing a lawsuit from California and over a dozen other states over his failure to grant a waiver allowing tailpipe emission regulation.  It was fairly clear that this decision was wholly political and in no way matching the scientific studies inside the EPA; Johnson’s staff was unanimously opposed to the decision.  Last week, Sen. Boxer chaired a field hearing in Los Angeles to investigate what was behind the denial of the waiver.  Johnson failed to attend.  This is from an email:

California Attorney General Jerry Brown, California Air Resources Board Chair Mary Nichols, the Sierra Club’s Carl Pope, the NRDC’s Fran Pavley, and Congresswoman Hilda Solis all appeared as witnesses.  Unfortunately, one chair at the briefing was noticeably empty:  the seat we reserved for EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson.

Clearly, EPA Administrator Johnson does not want California and 18 other states to implement California’s higher emission standard for automobiles — a key part of our fight against global warming — but the public deserves to know why.  We can’t let Administrator Johnson hide the truth from the American people.

At the hearing, Attorney General Brown called on Boxer to subpoena Johnson and all of the relevant documents that went into the decision.  Boxer is planning a hearing on January 24th with the EPA Administrator, and she’s attempting to use public pressure to get Johnson to release the documents.  She’s asking supporters to forward Johnson this email (over):

Dear Administrator Johnson,

I urge you explain why the EPA denied a request from California and 18 other states to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles, and to release all documents surrounding how the decision was made.

You would have us believe that granting California’s waiver request would establish a complicated “patchwork” of state regulation standards. But in reality, 14 other states have joined California and would use our higher standard, and 4 more states intend to do the same.  The national government should encourage — not stymie –the efforts of nineteen states to fight global warming.  

Last year, you told Senator Boxer’s Committee that the EPA needed more time to make a decision on California’s waiver request because it was “performing a rigorous analysis.” However, according to an article in the Washington Post, you ignored the advice of your technical and legal staff and denied our waiver request anyway.

We deserve to know the truth about why, over the unanimous advice of your own technical and legal staffers, you rejected California’s legitimate waiver request — waivers which have been issued 50 times in the past and never denied.

I urge you to explain to the public why you denied California’s waiver request, and release all related documents to reveal how the decision was made.

Meanwhile, House Oversight Committee chair Henry Waxman has also demanded the documents, and is scheduling interviews with EPA employees about Johnson’s decision.  These are two ornery committee chairs that will not let up on the EPA.

Let me also commend Hillary Clinton for being the first Presidential candidate to address this issue, lauding the state’s decision to take the EPA to court.  From the comments, Barack Obama sent out a press release on the EPA decision soon after it was handed down.  And Edwards urged granting of the waiver back in the summer.  There isn’t much daylight between the major candidates on this issue.

Stay tuned.

UPDATE: Sean from Warming Law has more.

(bumped with new info. – promoted by David Dayen)

Barbara Boxer and Henry Waxman are expecting defeat in the fight to get the EPA to grant a waiver to the state so it can implement Fran Pavley’s landmark tailpipe emissions law.

In a gathering with reporters Tuesday, Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., said she has “very little hope” that the EPA will grant the waiver, which would open the door to California and more than a dozen other states imposing emission standards more stringent than federal requirements […]

Asked whether she thought the decision would be made by the EPA or at the White House, Boxer said: “If you look at everything done on the environment, a lot of this leads back to the vice president’s office.”

“Politics is alive and well in relation to this waiver,” said Boxer, chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

It’s difficult to understate how abnormal this would be.  The EPA has never denied a waiver to California allowing them to regulate their own emissions.  

The EPA Administrator, Stephen Johnson, has claimed there will be a decision on the waiver by the end of the year, but he’s ducking requests for meetings with Boxer, and ignoring letters from Waxman.  The handwriting is on the wall.  I don’t know if the lawsuit prepared by the state demanded that a decision be made on the waiver or that the waiver be granted.  Either way, expect some legal recourse as a result of the expected denial.  And expect little movement on implementation of a law central to California’s efforts to curb emissions until the swearing in of a new President.

UPDATE: They denied the waiver.

The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday slapped down California’s bid for first-in-the-nation greenhouse gas limits on cars, trucks and SUVs, denying a request for a waiver that would have allowed those restrictions to take effect.

“The Bush administration is moving forward with a clear national solution _ not a confusing patchwork of state rules _ to reduce America’s climate footprint from vehicles,” EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson said in a statement.

Expect a flurry of lawsuits.

UPDATE II: Waxman:

EPA’s decision ignores the law, science, and commonsense.  This is a policy dictated by politics and ideology, not facts.  The Committee will be investigating how and why this decision was made.