The Elephants in the Room: Republicans Battle Each Other Over Clean Cars

For two years, the state of California, under Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, has fought to put tough auto standards in place to reduce global warming emissions. And another Republican administration, that of President George W. Bush, has stalled in granting the waiver that would put those cleaner vehicles on the road.

The Golden State is not alone in wanting to clear the air. California has the power to set its own clean car rules, and other states can either go along with it or continue to follow the weaker federal laws. So far, 11 states -- Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Florida, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington -- are going along with California, and others are thinking about it. So we're talking about a lot of climate-friendly cars -- approximately a third of all the cars sold in the U.S. every year. If they were in place, the new standards would go into effect in the 2009 model year, and would gradually reduce carbon dioxide emissions a whopping 30 percent by 2016.

The Bush administration may have done more than simply sit on California's request. According to Congressman Henry Waxman (D-CA), chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, the administration conducted an active and somewhat surreptitious lobbying campaign against the waiver it was supposed to be judging impartially. Taxpayer money was used in an attempt to recruit members of Congress and governors in auto states to testify against the crucial waiver.

Schwarzenegger has already told the EPA that he intends to sue if the waiver is not granted. This is a pathetic state of affairs. Transportation accounts for a quarter of U.S. global warming emissions. Climate-friendly cars will also be fuel efficient, so this action would in fact save consumers quite a bit of money. President Bush has to get out of the way and let the states take this much-needed climate action.