It's just a matter of time. The Obama administration is "considering establishing national rules for regulating greenhouse gas emissions for automobiles" according to today's Washington Post. This comes after the EPA all but told us that they are going to approve the California emissions waiver that allows almost 20 states (so far) to set these standards. Ironically, the right has argued that allowing California to adopt a different standard that is more stringent (allowed only for California under the Clean Air Act because of its dangerous non-attainment- other states can use the federal or California model) and will now be getting what they ask for: "Sunday, Carol M. Browner, assistant to the president for energy and climate, said she and others backed the idea of a single standard for cars and trucks." Thanks, Republicans, for the unity.
Will this be hard for the auto manufacturers to swallow? Probably not. The American public has already turned away from larger vehicles because of the volatility of gas prices and is seeking smaller vehicles that coincidentally emit less. Couple this with the understanding that the Obama investment in the electric grid is designed to build capacity for electric vehicles and you will see where this is all going. "Meanwhile, several auto industry officials said they backed the idea of a universal fuel-efficiency standard aimed at curbing greenhouse gases, even if it is stricter than the country's current goal of achieving a fleetwide average of 35 miles per gallon by 2020. California's proposed rule would produce a standard of roughly 42 mpg. "
What's more likely to be controversial:
The administration is already counting on cap-and-trade legislation passing
to generate new revenue for the federal government. Office of Management and
Budget Director Peter Orszag told reporters the budget Obama will unveil this
week includes the money that would flow from auctioning off pollution allowances
under a cap-and-trade scheme.
0 comments:
Post a Comment