In Denying California, EPA Denied Experts, Law & History

The Environmental Protection Agency's Administrator, Stephen Johnson, had plenty of reason to approve California's request to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles.

He had experts. His staff reportedly recommended approving the Clean Air Act waiver, because it met all the necessary conditions.

He had the law. The Supreme Court this spring ruled that carbon dioxide is a pollutant as defined by the Clean Air Act, and therefore subject to regulation by the EPA. California has the unique right among states to set air quality rules that are more aggressive than those set by the federal government.

He had history. California has been granted every Clean Air Act waiver it ever requested, totaling 40-50 such waivers.

But Johnson rejected the petition, leaving the most plausible explanation: Politics, as usual.

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