California, Oregon and Washington Will be Impacted by EPA Decision

In a surprise move, the Administrator of the EPA denied California and 16 other state's ability to set standards for cleaner air.

California is known for higher emission standards, and several other states were joining in the fight to increase those standards, but the EPA suddenly went against the advice of its own scientists Wednesday and denied the state's ability to set standards to save gas and help the environment. Photo courtesy: automotiveblogger.net

(SALEM, Ore.) - California Congresswoman Barbara Boxer is lashing out at EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson for his dead of the night move as lawmakers were leaving town for the holiday recess, to deny California's Waiver that allows the state to set higher emission standards for cars.

Sixteen other states including Oregon are affected by the political maneuvering. Boxer says the nearly half the country's efforts to clean the air will be affected. She compared Johnson to a character in a Dr. Sues book for his denial of a waiver that until now had always been allowed.

"At a time when Americans are celebrating the holidays with friends and family, on Wednesday the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, Stephen Johnson, showed up as the Grinch."

The EPA's refusal Wednesday to grant the waiver to California that allowed the restrictions to be put into effect, also blocks other states including Oregon.

Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski and fellow Democratic Governor Chris Gregoire of Washington, worked together to bring the California standards to all three Pacific Coast states.

Kulongoski says he'll move forward with "any legal or administrative means necessary" to ensure that Oregon can set its own tailpipe emission standards.

Boxer says it was two years ago that California announced plans to combat the consequences of global warming by filing a waiver request with the EPA, seeking federal approval to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles.

"The Clean Air Act gives states the right to set stricter vehicle emissions standards as long as they obtain waivers from the EPA -- waivers which have been granted to California 50 times in the past and never denied."

The news comes as 16 other states are in the process of adopting similar standards as California, collectively covering nearly 150 million Americans.

Boxer says Johnson is working on behalf of the wrong interests.

"Unfortunately, EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson put politics over science and, in the dead of the night as lawmakers were leaving town for the holiday recess, announced that he planned to stand in the way of our fight against global warming by denying California's common-sense waiver."

Under the standards California tried to implement, greenhouse gases would be cut by an amount equal to taking 6.5 million cars off the road by 2020, Boxer said, in her state alone.

"And if these 16 other states join California, emissions would be reduced by the equivalent of 22 million cars by 2020, cutting gasoline usage by up to 11 billion gallons per year."

She says EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson has delivered the worst possible news to the people of California and 16 other states who are leading the fight for the survival of our planet.

"Make no mistake about it -- the reason that EPA Administrator Johnson waited until late December to issue his controversial decision, overruling the unanimous recommendations of his agency's legal and technical staff, was to try to minimize public backlash."

Boxer went on to say that Johnson knows that they're watching, and they're outraged by his decision.