Congress to Force EPA Hand in Calfornia Waiver

The Senate has enacted a bill to force the EPA to grant California's waiver to enable them to regulate greenhouse gases in their state. The EPA, in the person of EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson, denied that waiver shortly after Congress passed the new CAFE standards saying they did not meet the standards to meet compelling and extraordinary conditions.

But internal documents from the EPA show Johnson decided against internal advice. And now Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) wants to force the EPA to grant the waiver.

Read all about the Senator's new bill at Green Car Congress: Senators Introduce Bill to Direct EPA to Grant California Waiver

The EPA document also concluded that if EPA denied the waiver, it faced an “almost certain lawsuit by California” and that the agency was “likely to lose [the] suit.”

Administrator Johnson’s decision to deny the waiver was not supported by the facts, by the law, by the science, or by precedent. I will use every available tool to ensure that California and the nation are able to reduce the pollution that causes global warming. One of those tools is legislation that essentially overturns Mr. Johnson’s actions.
—Senator Boxer

California is currently suing the EPA to force them to grant the waiver.