Thursday, March 6, 2008
By Erin Kelly
Free Press Washington Writer

WASHINGTON — Rep. Peter Welch led a group of House members today in pushing to overturn a controversial federal decision to deny Vermont the right to regulate the global warming pollution that spews from automobile tailpipes.

The Vermont Democrat, together with about 60 other House members, introduced the Right to Clean Vehicles Act to reverse the Environmental Protection Agency’s December decision to deny California’s request for a waiver to adopt stricter automobile emissions standards. Vermont and 11 other states were poised to implement those same tougher standards if the EPA had granted the waiver.

EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson denied the states’ request despite the fact that his agency’s legal and scientific staff recommended he grant the waiver.

“The Environmental Protection Agency’s decision defied the science, defied the states and defied common sense,” Welch said. “With consumers feeling the pinch of record fuel prices and the evidence of global warming overwhelming, the Bush administration must lead, follow, or get out of the way.”

Johnson said he believed the energy bill passed by Congress late last year and signed into law by President Bush was enough to help increase fuel efficiency and reduce global warming. That bill requires automobiles to average 35 miles per gallon by 2020. By going farther on a gallon of gas, cars burn up less of the fossil fuels that create global warming emissions.

But Welch and other critics said that bill, while important, created weaker standards than those sought by Vermont. The waiver they supported would achieve an average of at least 36 mpg by 2016, according to California officials. Supporters of the tougher standards also say targeting tailpipe emissions is a more effective way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions than simply raising fuel standards.

Earlier this year, Welch led a successful effort to block a proposal being considered by the House Energy and Commerce Committee that would have barred Vermont from adopting standards tougher than those imposed by the federal government.

However, Welch acknowledged he will have a hard time getting his legislation through that committee, chaired by Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., who represents the Detroit automakers who oppose tougher standards.

A similar bill has been introduced in the Senate by Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., with the support of Vermont Sens. Patrick Leahy, a Democrat, and Bernie Sanders, an independent.

Contact Erin Kelly at ekelly@gns.gannett.com