In a rebuke of the Bush administration’s environmental policy, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger threatened Wednesday to sue the federal government if it does not decide by October whether to allow California to regulate greenhouse gas emissions on new vehicles, the Sacramento Bee reports.
The California Air Resources Board has approved restrictions on new passenger cars and light trucks that would reduce their greenhouse gas emissions about 30 percent by 2016, but it cannot impose such limits without a federal waiver.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has resisted making a decision ever since the state requested the waiver in December 2005. As a possible precursor to a decision, EPA announced plans to hold a hearing and solicit public comment after the U.S. Supreme Court this month increased pressure on the Bush administration by ruling the federal government should regulate carbon dioxide emissions.
