Automotive Bailout Talks Heat Up Over States' Desire to Regulate Tailpipe Emissions
Congressional Democrats crafting an auto industry bailout are pushing to include language requiring carmakers to drop their legal challenge to an attempt by more than a dozen states to regulate climate-changing emissions from motor vehicles.
A Democratic draft bill would require that Detroit carmakers who receive a portion of the bailout to drop their lawsuit against state efforts to enforce greenhouse-gas tailpipe restrictions on cars and trucks. The bill would prevent the carmakers from participating in "any legal challenge (existing or contemplated) to state laws concerning greenhouse-gas emission standards."
Longtime supporters of California's request for a waiver from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to enforce such restrictions, which when granted would permit other state's to adopt California's car-emissions rules, are promoting the provision. Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer of California, who heads the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, is among them.
One of the reasons the auto industry is in trouble is their fight against the waiver, Boxer told reporters Monday. Meeting California's tougher-than-federal emissions standards is in the automakers' best interests, she said.
But Republicans and auto industry supporters say the provision is unnecessary and counterproductive.
"The Democrats' call to include the California waiver provision in the auto bailout bill would mean Detroit would gain next to nothing in terms of help from Washington," said Republican Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma.
A spokesman for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers said the group continues to support a single, national emissions standard as the most effective way to address energy and environment needs.
A spokesman for EPA, which faced a firestorm of criticism after denying the waiver last year, said the agency does not have an official stance on any waiver provisions in the bailout legislation.
- Posted by
- Scott Doggett December 9, 2008, 11:52 AM
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- Alternative Fuels, Chrysler, Courts, Emissions, Ford, Fuel Economy, General Motors, Hybrid, Legislation, Plug-ins and Electric
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- Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, Climate Change, Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer, Greenhouse Gas, Senator James Inhofe, Tailpipe Emissions, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
This entire argument would be moot if the nation would simply get on with building the hydrogen infrastructure. The notion that national treasure both intellectual and monetary, should be esxpended trying to fix hydrocarbon internal combustion propulsion is ludicrous. Like trying to improve the buggy once the Model A was on the road or trying to develope horses for the pony express that drop fewer road apples after the telegraph was invented.