McCain Flips on Emissions, Now Says He's Opposed to National Standards

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain backtracked today on a pledge to set national auto emissions standards that would supersede those California and other states want to set, The Detroit News reported.
 
"I guess at the end of the day, I support the states being able to do that," the Arizona senator said at a town hall meeting at the GM Technical Center.

The Associated Press also reported McCain's change in stance. "I understand the labyrinth (automakers) have to navigate through," the AP quoted him saying today. "I'm not without sympathy."

McCain's statements today directly contradict a statement he made to reporters last month, when he said he hoped to set a national standard that would make state standards unnecessary.

"It seems to me the reason California went the way they did was because we, federally, failed to act to address greenhouse gas emissions," McCain told reporters on his campaign bus last month. "So my goal would be to see a federal standard that every state could embrace."

McCain, who has been courting Michigan's automakers, was addressing hundreds of General Motors Corp. engineers today at the ticket-only event. The auto-emissions issue is a huge one for carmakers, which say allowing states to set their own standards would cost them billions of dollars.
 
About a dozen states, led by California, have asked federal officials for permission to set standards on carbon emissions to combat climate change. Last year, the federal Environmental Protection Agency denied the request, and California has sued to challenge that decision.

Scott Doggett, Contributor 

Posted by

Philip Reed July 18, 2008, 3:36 PM

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