'Green' Auto Rules Arrive

Obama To Unveil 7-year Plan For Tougher Nationwide Emissions, Mileage Standards

He was referring to the Bush administration's 2007 decision denying California permission to implement its own emission rules on grounds that tougher nationwide vehicle fuel-economy standards were preferable to a "patchwork of state rules." "Once the federal government got in the business of bailing out the automakers, it's clear that they became much more sympathetic to the concerns of the automakers about multiple state standards," he said.

California first attempted to regulate vehicle emissions in 2002. More than a dozen states attempted to adopt its standards. The Bush administration denied their request, a decision that President Obama ordered the EPA to revisit shortly after taking office.

Obama's EPA also issued a draft ruling last month that declared greenhouse gases pose a danger to public health and are subject to regulation under the Clean Air Act. The proposal singles out cars and trucks, which comprise about one quarter of the nation's greenhouse gas emissions, for regulation.

The EPA began public hearings on the proposal Monday, the same day a House committee began debating a major energy bill that includes economy-wide greenhouse gas emission limits.

Administration officials have long said they wanted a single rule that would unite the greenhouse gas regulations and toughened fuel-economy standards, which Congress approved in 2007. The officials have cast such standards as a key to encouraging the deployment and sale of the fuel-sipping cars that Obama calls the key to the Detroit automakers' recovery - and key to the international fight against global warming.

Earlier this year, automakers and their congressional allies urged Obama to set a national emissions standard instead of allowing a "patchwork" of state laws. California officials agreed, but said they wouldn't settle for any national standards that were weaker.