Minnesota joins vehicle emissions lawsuit against EPA

By Dan Haugen
Thursday, January 10, 2008 at 3:22 pm

Minnesota has joined 16 other states in suing the Bush administration for the right to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks.

Attorney General Lori Swanson announced today that her office is joining the lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which in December denied California the ability to limit vehicle emissions.

The California standards would force automakers to cut greenhouse gas emission from tailpipes by 30 percent by 2016. California officials say the rules would have twice as much impact as the fuel-efficiency standards passed by Congress last month.

“I would like to see the federal government take a leadership role in addressing global warming. In the absence of leadership at the federal level, we need to show good stewardship at the state level,” Swanson said in a press release.

Under the federal Clean Air Act, the federal government can give California a waiver to create its own air quality regulations. Other states can adopt either the federal standards or California’s rules.

Thirteen of the 15 states that initially joined California in the lawsuit have already passed or are in the process of passing California’s standards. Minnesota has not, although bills have been introduced in the House and Senate that would align it with California.

Comments

2 Comments

Bretton
Comment posted January 11, 2008 @ 2:03 am

About time… Automotive and environmental politics are always a favorite of mine. Obviously the EPA is acting in the interests of an automobile industry that deserves no assistance in their continued heel-dragging that makes our air less breathable and our nation more vulnerable. One could make a good argument for the suit on the grounds that these issues should be handled at the state level, not by some wasteful, beauracratic entity 1000 miles away. It doesn’t seem to be a partisan issue, but you can certainly see why the republicans can no longer claim the title “Party of States’ Rights”.

I’d very much like to see our state government allocate funds to incubate a business to manufacture the Air Car here in MN. You all heard about Tata’s $2500 car, but what is even more important is the agreement that was reached between the Air Car’s manufacturer, MDI, and Tata to begin production this year in India. The car gets 125 miles a pump and can be filled in two minutes at an air pump station for about $3.

SCIENCE!

Bretton
Comment posted January 10, 2008 @ 8:03 pm

About time… Automotive and environmental politics are always a favorite of mine. Obviously the EPA is acting in the interests of an automobile industry that deserves no assistance in their continued heel-dragging that makes our air less breathable and our nation more vulnerable. One could make a good argument for the suit on the grounds that these issues should be handled at the state level, not by some wasteful, beauracratic entity 1000 miles away. It doesn't seem to be a partisan issue, but you can certainly see why the republicans can no longer claim the title “Party of States' Rights”.

I'd very much like to see our state government allocate funds to incubate a business to manufacture the Air Car here in MN. You all heard about Tata's $2500 car, but what is even more important is the agreement that was reached between the Air Car's manufacturer, MDI, and Tata to begin production this year in India. The car gets 125 miles a pump and can be filled in two minutes at an air pump station for about $3.

SCIENCE!

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