Schwarzenegger, California, and 16 states versus the EPA and the feds

Following passage of tough tail pipe emission standards voted into state law by California and a long series of court cases to allow California to enforce these laws the head of the EPA recently came out and disallowed the California laws.

The state is going to court again to try and overrule the latest decision to allow California to enact its own laws.

The EPA stated that these regulations must be national and that national standards should reply.

Here are part of Gov. Schwarzenegger's response:

I always start with the positive. I was very happy that Congress and that the President signed into law [an improvement for] fuel efficiency of the vehicles by the year 2020. That is the first time in a long time, which, of course doesn't say much for the United States.... But it's good news. So that's number one......And [as for] the excuse that it is a national issue and therefore it must be handled at a national level â€” I say to myself, "Wait a minute, let me think this through for a second," which we always do, we think a little bit. If you have a national problem with hunger and starvation, do I say, "Stop feeding people at the local level. We can't get involved. We have to have a policy nationally.....So how can you say you cannot regulate, you cannot have your own standards [that] we have to set a national standard, when there is no national standard? The tailpipe emission standard [of California] was already passed in 2002, the Pavley bill. There was no [national] standard. And in 2003, there was no standard. In 2004, there was no standard. In 2005, there was no standard. In 2006, there was no standard. So what are they talking about, "you cannot do this on your own because we have to have a national standard"? I say, "There is no standard!" Their standard is to have no standard. Therefore, we have to come in as a state.....It can only be that [the federal government is] going to the car companies and [is] saying to them, "Hey what can you really handle comfortably here," and they tell them, and they say "Whoa whoa whoa," California is stepping over the line, this wouldn't help you.
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(extracted from his interview with Time Magazine)

I like the way he responded to the Administration's ruling against the latest Court decision that okayed California's laws. The administration turned it down forcing another court case.

Their reasoning....you have to have a national policy. And the governator's response again....there was no national policy in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006.

Good reasoning administration.

And he further got to the gist of the issue. The administration is probably working with a certain segment of big industry to simply push that industry's agenda.

The governator went on to say the following in that interview....

It's always been the case if the federal government has fallen short on anything, the states come in. As a matter of fact, the federal government has said many times that we are the laboratories for the federal government. Let's have the states try something, if it's healthcare, education, whatever it is, because we all know all great things start at a grassroots level.
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So in other words its great to support the state's rights to do things...except if those actions are contrary to some narrow perspective held by the feds to support some narrow industry.

Kudo's governator!!!!!!

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Schwarzenegger, California, and 16 states versus the EPA and the feds

earlpearl Well-Known Member

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Schwarzenegger, California, and 16 states versus the EPA and the feds

earlpearl Well-Known Member

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