California sues US government over greenhouse gas regulations

Times of India , Thursday, January 03, 2008
Correspondent : Staff Reporter
SACRAMENTO (CALIFORNIA): California has sued the US government for denying its first-in-the-nation greenhouse gas limits on cars, trucks and sport utility vehicles, challenging the Bush administration's conclusion that states have no business setting emission standards.

Other states are expected to join the lawsuit, which was anticipated after the US Environmental Protection Agency, on Dec 19, denied California's request for a waiver required under the federal Clean Air Act. The lawsuit was filed on Wednesday in the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.

EPA Administrator Stephen L Johnson denied the waiver, saying it would result in a patchwork of state regulations. At least 16 other states had been expected to follow California's lead and adopt the state's tougher emission limits.

"There's absolutely no justification for the administrator's action," Attorney General Jerry Brown said on Wednesday. "It's illegal. It's unconscionable and a gross dereliction of duty," he added.

California prides itself on its focus on the environment and related regulations that often outstrips those that are federally mandated.

It has teamed up with other states in efforts to tackle environmental issues. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger also signed an agreement in 2006 with the then British PM Tony Blair to form a partnership to address global warming, bypassing the Bush administration to explore ways to curb greenhouse gas emissions and promote clean-burning fuels.

Johnson said last month that the federal government was moving forward with a national solution and dismissed California's arguments that it faced unique threats from climate change.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/The_United_States/California_sues_US_government_over_greenhouse_gas_regulations/articleshow/2670706.cms

 
SOURCE : Times of India, Thursday, 03 January 2008
 


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