News Room

This is a David and Goliath struggle worth watching and chronicling. It’s the story of state efforts to protect citizens’ health by promoting cleaner motor vehicles in the face of relentless pressure from the major automobile companies. The automobile industry is spending millions of dollars in an effort to kill these state standards.

Please check back frequently for the latest releases and news stories from around the nation.

News

September 23, 2008 – In response to the EPA's issuance of an "Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking" last July, the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works holds a hearing on regulation of greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act.
U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer's opening statement
Testimony of California Air Resources Board Chair Mary Nichols
Testimony of Sierra Club's David Bookbinder
July 31, 2008 – The 2008 Public Policy Institute of California poll on the environment finds global warming front and center among Californians' environmental concerns. Two in three residents and likely voters, and majorities of voters across parties favor the state making its own policies. Eight in 10 residents (81%) and likely voters (79%) say they favor the 2002 state law to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from new cars beginning in 2009.
Read the PPIC Press release
Download the full report
July 22, 2008 – U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works hearing: an update on the science of global warming and its implications.
July 11, 2008 – U.S. EPA issues an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that will involve seeking months more comment on whether GHG is a pollutant that affects public health. It is essentially delaying action until the next president takes office. Read more.
May 30, 2008 – Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger sends a letter to U.S. Senators Barbara Boxer, Joseph Lieberman and John Warner establishing California's key principles for any federal climate legislation. Read the press release.
May 29, 2008 – California Air Resources Board Chairman Mary Nichols responds to a letter sent by Congressional Republicans to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger supporting a national vehicle standard.
Read Chairman Nichols's response
Read the list of recipients to Chairman Nichols's letter
Read the Republican Congressional delegation's letter
May 19, 2008 – House Oversight and Government Reform Committee investigation concludes that the White House tampered with the U.S. EPA’s decision, leading EPA to reject California’s request for a waiver to implement its clean cars law.
May 8, 2008 – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s statement after meeting with automakers.
May 6, 2008 – Arizona adopts Clean Cars regulation.
April 22-23, 2008 – On Earth Day, NHTSA releases proposed new fuel economy rules. But buried in the small print is language that would pre-empt Calif. and other states from implementing stricter tailpipe regulations to reduce global warming pollution.
Read about the latest attack on states’ rights
April 2, 2008 – One year after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that EPA has authority to regulate GHG from vehicles, 18 states, three cities and 11 environmental groups returned to federal court to press the U.S. EPA to act on the court-mandated “endangerment finding,” a determination that greenhouse gases endanger public health or welfare. This action follows a month of continued foot-dragging by EPA and badgering by Congress.
Read more about endangerment finding
February 29, 2008 – U.S. EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson issues his justification for denying California's waiver request for its Clean Cars law.
Read the decision
Read the EPA fact sheet
January 24, 2008 – Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger joins 13 other governors in sending a letter to U.S. EPA regarding the U.S. EPA waiver denial.
Learn more
January 24, 2008 – Calif. Air Resources Board releases addendum to previous analysis of California Clean Cars regulation vs. CAFE standards adopted by Congress in December.
Learn more
January 10, 2008 – U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, chair of the Environment and Public Works Subcommittee, holds a field hearing in Los Angeles on the EPA’s recent waiver denial. Learn more
January 10, 2008 – An assessment of major studies that have examined the implications of global warming for urban smog concludes that the EPA’s refusal to allow California to regulate greenhouse gases from motor vehicles has adverse consequences for the health of California’s urban residents, especially children and seniors.
Environmental Defense news release
Environmental Defense report
January 2, 2008 – In separate petitions, California and 15 states, plus five environmental organizations ask a federal court to reverse the December 19, 2007 U.S. EPA decision denying California a waiver to implement its Clean Cars law. The petitions were filed in the 9th Circuit of Appeals.
Learn more
December 20, 2007 – Gov. Schwarzenegger announces intent to appeal EPA waiver denial.
December 20, 2007 – House Oversight Committee Chairman Henry Waxman initiates investigation into U.S. EPA its decision to deny California’s clean cars waiver.
Read the request
December 19, 2007 – Bush administration denies California clean cars waiver request.
EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson’s letter to Calif. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
EPA news release: EPA denies California clean cars waiver
Read Calif. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s response
Read Calif. Attorney General Jerry Brown’s response
Read U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein’s response
Read National Association of Clean Air Agencies response
Read NRDC response
Read Union of Concerned Scientists response
Read the Environment America response
Read the NESCAUM response
Read Connecticut Gov. Jodi Rell response
Read New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson’s response
Read Maine Gov. John Baldacci’s response
Read Pennsylvania Gov. Edward G. Rendell’s response
Read New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s response
December 11, 2007 – California wins in U.S. District Court. Judge Anthony Ishii dismisses automaker lawsuit in U.S. District Court, opens door for California Clean Cars Law in global warming fight. State awaits waiver from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency before it can implement law.
Read the American Lung Association of California news release
Read the NRDC news release
Read the UCS news release
Read the Sierra Club news release
November 28, 2007 – New Mexico becomes the 13th state to adopt the Clean Cars Law.
November 8, 2007 – In a precedent setting lawsuit, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. sued the U.S. EPA, to force action on the state’s waiver request. The lawsuit, filed today in Washington D.C. , charges the EPA with an unreasonable delay in reaching a decision on California’s request for a waiver to implement its clean cars law.

Fourteen other states – Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington – joined California’s lawsuit.
Read the Governor’s Press release and view video
Read the Attorney General’s Press release
Read the Complaint
Read the Statement from Former US EPA Administrator William K. Reilly
Read the statement from NRDC’s David Doniger
Read the Environment California release
Read the National Environmental Trust statement
Read the Union of Concerned Scientists release
September 12, 2007 – A federal district court judge in Vermont today ruled against the automakers and for the states of Vermont and New York and environmental groups in support of the Clean Cars Law. The decision opens the way toward implementation of California’s vehicle global warming pollution standards in Vermont.
Read the judge's opinion.
Read statements on the ruling by Sierra Club, Conservation Law Foundation, and Union of Concerned Scientists
Read the statement by Environmental Defense
September 12, 2007 – Thirteen Governors sign a letter to automakers asking them to drop their lawsuits against state clean cars laws and work together to address global warming.
June 6, 2007 – Members of Congress, governors, state attorneys general, state environmental leaders, and environmental, public interest and consumer groups join to oppose provisions in draft energy legislation that would cripple states’ rights. Read more.
May 21, 2007 – Washington, DC—Tailpipe standards already in place in 12 states would reduce global warming emissions by nearly 400 million metric tons by 2020 – a reduction equivalent to taking 74 million of today’s cars off the road for an entire year, according to a new U.S. Public Interest Research Group (U.S. PIRG) report. The report comes as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) prepares to hold public hearings May 22 in Arlington, Virginia and May 30 in Sacramento, Calif. on whether to give states the green light to reduce global warming pollution from cars and SUVs.
May 10, 2007 – U.S. EPA announces a second public hearing on California waiver request to implement the Clean Cars Law, this one in Sacramento May 30.
Second waiver notice
April 25, 2007 – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger warns U.S. EPA that the state will sue if the federal agency fails to act within 6 months on California’s long-delayed request for a waiver to implement its clean cars law.
Governor’s news release and letter to EPA
April 24, 2007 – U.S. EPA opens comment period on California waiver request to implement Clean Cars Law
Read details
April 02, 2007 – U.S. Supreme Court gives green light to global warming motor vehicle standards. The U. S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in a strongly-worded opinion that CO2 is a pollutant and that states can regulate its emissions, bolstering California’s Clean Cars Law.
Read the opinion
Read the Union of Concerned Scientists press release
Read the Natural Resources Defense Council press release
Read the Sierra Club press release
Read the PIRG press release
March 19, 2007 – The automakers’ trial against the Clean Cars Law is going forward in Vermont. In a Burlington, Vt. courtroom, attorneys for the Burlington Free Press argue their motion to keep the trial open to the public, opposing an automaker motion to close certain testimony due to claims of trade secrets.
Read more
January 16, 2007 – A federal judge in Fresno, Calif. today postponed trial of the auto industry’s lawsuit against California’s landmark clean cars global warming standards until the U.S. Supreme Court issues its decision in a closely related case later this spring.
Read the NRDC news release
Read the judge's order
November 20, 2006 – Next week, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a landmark global warming case, Massachusetts v. EPA. This case will decide whether the Clean Air Act authorizes the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate the pollution that causes global warming. It will also have a direct bearing on the eleven states across the country that have adopted global warming tailpipe emissions standards for cars and trucks.
Read the Media Advisory
Read the Mass. v. EPA Primer
September 26, 2006 – Environment, science, conservation, health, and consumer leaders join key members of Congress in calling on the Bush administration to allow California to implement its new clean-car standards to limit global warming emissions.
Read the news release.
Read the letter from 100 Congressional Representatives.
September 20, 2006 – California sues six major automakers for global warming damages.
September 15, 2006 – Attorneys for the California Attorney General and the environmental intervenors argue in U.S. District Court in Fresno, Calif. that the federal Clean Air Act authorizes, and no other law preempts, California’s regulations to reduce global warming pollution from vehicles.
August 31, 2006 – Powerful Coalition Petitions Supreme Court to Order EPA to Obey the Law
March 16, 2006 – New NRC Report Affirms the Role of the States in Setting Clean Air Standards

Resources

May 29, 2008 – More than 1,700 of the nation's most prominent scientists and economists release a joint statement calling on policymakers to require immediate, deep reductions in global warming emissions – just days before the Senate begins debate on the Lieberman-Warner climate bill.
May, 2008 – A discussion paper by Walter McManus, University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, of numerous studies examining the impact of the Clean Cars program as well as increasing fuel economy regulations on auto industry profits and jobs.
May 8, 2007 – California released an updated comparison of the Clean Cars law vs. federal CAFÉ standards, using the standards announced by NHTSA in April 2008. It found California’s rule achieves 41 percent greater total reductions of greenhouse gases nationwide compared to the recently proposed federal fuel economy standards by 2020
October 2007 – King review of low-carbon cars
April 22, 2008 – UCS Report: Setting the Standard: How Cost-Effective Technology Can Increase Vehicle Fuel Economy
April 22, 2008 – U.S. Reps. Waxman, Markey, Inslee call on Congressional colleagues to support a set of “strong, fair, and science-based” principles to guide Congress as it produces a comprehensive global warming bill.
February 25, 2008 – CARB issues the final report comparing emissions reduction benefits of Clean Cars law with CAFE
January 24, 2008 – Calif. Air Resources Board addendum to earlier study of California Clean Cars program (Pavley) to CAFE
January 8, 2008 – Facts Are Stupid Things – NRDC Climate Center Director David Doniger’s blog
Where do the 2008 presidential candidates stand?
- Hillary Clinton supports California in its fight against U.S. EPA for denying Clean Cars waiver – The Sacramento Bee – January 12, 2008
- Obama would have granted California’s waiver – campaign statement – December 20, 2007
- Chart compares Republican candidates – The Sacramento Bee – January 31, 2008
- All four Republican candidates support California's right to a waiver from the Bush EPA – Grist – January 30, 2008
January 2, 2008 – California Air Resources Board compares California Clean Cars program (Pavley) to federal CAFÉ standards
December 27, 2007 – Congressional Research Service Report to Congress: California’s Waiver Request to Control Greenhouse Gases Under the Clean Air Act
December 2007 – Arriving at the Tipping Point – Sierra Club
January 2007 – Vanguard: We can have it all with lower emissions today – Union of Concerned Scientists
November 2007 – Biofuels: An Important Part of a Low-Carbon Diet – Union of Concerned Scientists
August 2007 – Automakers Corporate Carbon Burdens report – Environmental Defense
Video with NRDC’s Roland Hwang: Clean Cars – A Global Warming Solution

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger again urges U.S. EPA action on California’s waiver request – letter to president
California sues six major automakers for global warming damages – legal complaint
Rising to the Challenge: Six Steps to Cut Global Warming Pollution in the United States – U.S. PIRG Education Fund report
State Clean Cars Programs: An Effective Way to Slash Global Warming Pollution – National Association of State PIRGs report
California Auto Standards and State Efforts to Curb Global Warming Pollution from Cars and Light Trucks – National Environmental Trust fact sheet

Recent Clippings

April 12, 2008 – “Vanishing Act” U.S. EPA fails to live up to its name – National Journal cover story
January 9, 2008 – The EPA’s faulty climate math - Reporter Andrew Revkin’s blog – New York Times

December 21, 2007 – A selection of national news clippings of the waiver denial.
TIME, CBS News, Detroit News, Reuters, Seattle Times, Hartford Courant, Detroit Free Press, The New York Times, USA Today
December 21, 2007 – Editorials on U.S. EPA denial of California waiver request. – New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Sacramento Bee, Mercury News
December 21, 2007 – News coverage on political and legal fallout of U.S. EPA denial of California waiver request. – Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Mercury News, Sacramento Bee
December 12, 2007 – Sacramento Bee story summarizes impact of U.S. District Court decision against automakers in California Clean Cars Law case.
September 12, 2007 – States seeking to regulate vehicle GHG emissions win big in court. News coverage of Vermont decision from: Detroit News, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, New York Times, Washington Post
September 1, 2007 – A Congressional Research Service report updated in August and leaked to the San Jose Mercury News indicates California has a good case for its waiver request to EPA – San Jose Mercury News
July 3, 2007 – California officials are furious at evidence that DOT lobbied on behalf of auto industry against California’s waiver request – Los Angeles Daily News
June 18, 2007 – U.S. Reps. John Dingell and Rick Boucher withdraw language from energy legislation that would have overturned California’s authority to implement its Clean Cars Law – San Francisco Chronicle and The Sacramento Bee
June 8, 2007 – Editorials oppose legislative effort in Congress to overturn California’s and other states’ right to set stricter greenhouse gas emissions standards – Washington Post and The Sacramento Bee
May 21, 2007 – California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Connecticut Gov. Jodi Rell co-sign a strongly worded op-ed pushing the Bush Administration to act on California’s waiver request – Washington Post
May 21, 2007 – Calif. Attorney General and former Gov. Jerry Brown crusades for California’s EPA waiver – Newsweek Online
May 13, 2007 – Burlington Free Press wraps up coverage of Vermont Clean Cars trial
April 11 – May 9, 2007 – Selected articles from Burlington Free Press coverage of Vermont trial
April 25, 2007 – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger threatens to sue U.S. EPA –
Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, The Sacramento Bee, San Diego Union-Tribune
April 24, 2007 – U.S. EPA Opens Comment Period on California waiver request to implement Clean Cars law - Greenwire
April 24, 2007 - Maryland Clean Cars bill signed into law – Baltimore Sun
April 12, 13, 14, 2007 – Vermont Trial Coverage – Burlington Free Press
April 11, 2007 – Trial of the tailpipe opens – Burlington Free Press
April 11, 2007 –- Editorial: Open court serves public in hearings – Burlington Free Press
April 5, 2007 – Judge Denies Automakers’ Motion to Close Courtroom – Burlington Free Press
March 24, 2007 – Judge in emissions suit rejects companies' push for secrecy – Associated Press
March 16 and 10, 2007 – Coverage of pre-trial activity in Vermont. Burlington Free Press files motion to intervene opposing automakers’ motion to seal testimony in Vermont Clean Cars lawsuit – Burlington Free Press and Associated Press
October 25, 2006 – The Bush administration and business interests urge the Supreme Court to reject upcoming hearing on Mass. v. EPA CO2 case – Greenwire
September 9, 2006 – Arizona adopts plan to reduce global warming; plan includes Clean Cars Law component – Arizona Republic
August 11, 2006 – Cities, States Aren't Waiting For U.S. Action on Climate – Washington Post
July 3, 2006 – Path now clear for cleaner mowers. Bond has backed off his opposition, so the EPA eyes new emission rules – Kansas City Star
June 30, 2006 – Approval near for control of small engines’ emissions. EPA ready to OK California’s limits, even to point of making rules national standard – San Francisco Chronicle
June 29, 2006 – California Smog Rules May be Used Nationwide – AP
June 29, 2006 – Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Global Warming Case – AP