[Vision2020] When Bush Is Gone, Schwarzenegger Will Prevail

[Ted Moffett]

January 23, 2008

The Honorable Stephen L. Johnson
Administrator
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20460

Dear Mr. Administrator:
We are writing to express our disappointment in your recent decision to
block states' rights to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles.

Your decision to deny California its waiver ignores federal law and the
reality of climate change. It also ignores the clear intent of Congress in
the Clean Air Act to enable California to adopt regulations to control
emissions from new motor vehicles that are at least as stringent as those of
the federal government, and to allow other states to follow.

The authority of states to address greenhouse gas emissions from motor
vehicles has been clearly and unequivocally supported by recent judicial
decisions. In April, the United States Supreme Court ruled in an historic
opinion that greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles are pollutants to
be regulated under the Clean Air Act. In September, a federal court decision
in Vermont confirmed that states have the authority to adopt California's
motor vehicle greenhouse gas emissions standards. In December, a federal
court in California issued a ruling that confirms California's authority to
set motor vehicle greenhouse gas emissions standards.

We find your reasons for denying California's request for a waiver of
federal preemption unsound.

*New Federal Fuel Economy Standards are No Excuse for Denying Waiver*

You said the federal Energy Bill is the answer to combating greenhouse gas
emissions from vehicles. The U.S. EPA acted inappropriately in basing its
waiver decision on a comparison of California's emissions standards to
possible co-benefits of the recently enacted federal Energy Bill, especially
with no support for that comparison.

While more stringent CAFE standards are well and good, the most effective
strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles is the
comprehensive standard that has been adopted by 13 states and is being
considered by another seven. California's standard regulates four greenhouse
gases directly. The federal government, as required by the new Energy Bill,
will improve fuel economy standards. Fuel economy and greenhouse gas
emission standards are not the same. Although both are laudable, they
achieve distinctly different goals.

*California's Standard is One of Only Two Possible Standards*

You denounced a confusing patchwork of state rules in your denial statement.
There is no patchwork. Rather, there continues to be the two-car system that
Congress intended -- California cars and federal cars. Currently there is
only one greenhouse gas emissions standard -- a California standard.

The federal government has not established a greenhouse gas emissions
standard for vehicles. If they do, manufacturers will continue to produce,
at most, two vehicle types -- one certified for sale in California and the
states that have adopted California's standard, and one federally-certified
for the remainder of the states. That is why we need to adopt the most
effective solution -- California's -- which is the only greenhouse gas
standard in effect.

*California's Standards are Almost Twice as Effective*

You said federal CAFE standards are much more effective than California's
standard. Although this is not a proper basis for your decision, according
to an analysis by the California Air Resources Board, if all 19 states
follow California, the greenhouse gas emissions reduction benefits above and
beyond the possible co-benefits under the Energy Bill are expected to be 315
million metric tons by the year 2020, an 85% increase in emission reduction
benefits.

*This Global Problem Requires the Most Effective Solution *

You said this waiver request is distinct from prior waiver requests because,
unlike traditional pollutants, greenhouse gas emissions are a global
problem. We agree that this is a global problem, but the consequences are a
local problem. Higher temperatures will cause a number of troubling local
conditions, including worsening smog and soot pollution in cities that
already suffer from some of the worst air quality in the nation. That is why
we need to adopt the most effective solution, which is ours.

*Climate Change Compels Us to Act Now*

You said that the circumstances for granting the waiver are not compelling.
Each day, scientists better understand the impacts of climate change, and
those impacts are certain to be environmentally and economically damaging.
All states face negative impacts to their economies, natural resources and
shorelines. California is particularly vulnerable because of its reliance on
snow pack as the most significant source of water storage, its 1,200 miles
of coastline, its agricultural industry that leads the U.S. in production of
fruits and vegetables, and its already-challenging air quality issues. This
is more than sufficient to warrant California's claim of "compelling and
extraordinary conditions" and to exercise its right to lead a state-based
effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles, and for other
states to follow.

In conclusion, the U.S. EPA action to prevent California, and thereby 19
other states, from implementing its motor vehicle greenhouse gas emissions
reduction regulations is without merit. The federal government, with this
unprecedented action, is ignoring the rights of states, as well as the will
of more than one hundred million people across the U.S. We stand by our
commitment to bring cleaner cars to our states.

Sincerely,

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, California
Governor Janet Napolitano, Arizona
Governor M. Jodi Rell, Connecticut
Governor John Baldacci, Maine
Governor Martin O'Malley, , Maryland
Governor Deval Patrick, Massachusetts
Governor Bill Richardson, New Mexico
Governor Eliot Spitzer, New York
Governor Theodore R. Kulongoski, Oregon
Governor Edward G. Rendell, Pennsylvania
Governor Donald L. Carcieri, Rhode Island
Governor James H. Douglas, Vermont
Governor Christine O. Gregoire, Washington
Governor Jon S. Corzine, New Jersey
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Vision2020 Post: Ted Moffett
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