President Bush’s chief of staff used to be General Motors’ head lobbyist. So I guess it shouldn’t even raise eyebrows when last week the Bush administration went to court to fight California requirements that automobile makers sell electric cars.
California law says that 10 percent of all vehicles offered for sale in the 2003 model year have to be “zero emission vehicles.” It’s now abundantly clear that none of the automobile companies can meet that requirement. Accordingly, California lawmakers offered to let the manufacturers sell hybrid cars to meet at least part of the legal requirements. True to form, the automobile companies don’t want any quotas at all and filed a lawsuit, claiming that the offered relaxation of the law was a violation of federal law.
Under the proposed relaxation of the California law, the auto makers would receive credit toward the “zero emission vehicle” quota based on the fuel economy of the cars.
Last week the Bush administration filed a brief with the United States Court of Appeals in San Francisco in support of the automobile industry’s position. The Bush brief claims that the relaxed California law would amount to the state regulating fuel economy standards, something only the federal government can do.
The Bush administration and the GM lobbyist are right in this case: Setting automobile fuel requirements is the responsibility of the federal government. Similarly, California’s emission standards are the responsibility of that state. California should respond to Shrub’s mean-spirited attempt to subvert California’s emission standards by withdrawing the proposed relaxation of the law and holding the automobile manufacturers to the current law. Penalties for violation should be severe.
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