In 2005, Arnold Schwarzenegger, the governor of California, asked for a waiver from federal guidelines
for emission standards,
so that California could mandate higher standards on automobile CO2
emission. The federal government regulates automobile emission standards because it is responsible for interstate commerce. The Bush administration said no. Yesterday President Obama said that he would reverse the decision. Apparently 13 other states and the District of
Columbia have also asked for waivers. It seems that American car manufacturers oppose waivers, because they claim that it means that they will have to make different cars for California than for the rest of the US. The reality is that California is so large economically, if I remember it’s the World’s fifth largest economy, that this would set the standard for not only the rest of the US, but Canada, Japan, and other countries exporting to the US. Obama has also suggested that there is a link with the $825 billion stimulus package which Congress is working on because one of the goals of that bill is clean-energy products and other green objectives. It also tends to lessen US dependence on oil from parts of the world with whom the US is not on the best of terms.
President Obama also seems to support the introduction of a cap-and-trade
system for carbon emissions. And it has been suggested that he may be willing to look at how the US might join the rest of World in finding something to replace the Kyoto Protocol on climate change.
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