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DIRECTIVES * USA - Obama Directs Regulators to Tighten Auto Rules
President Obama directed federal regulators on Monday to move swiftly on an application by California and 13 other states to set strict limits on greenhouse gases from cars and trucks
Washington,DC,USA -The New York Times, by JOHN M. BRODER -January 26, 2009 — The centerpiece of Monday’s announcement was Mr. Obama’s directive to the Environmental Protection Agency to begin work immediately on granting California a waiver under the Clean Air Act to allow the state, a longtime leader in air quality matters, to set standards for automobile emissions that are stricter than the national rules... He also ordered the Transportation Department to begin drawing up rules imposing higher fuel-economy standards on cars and light trucks... Mr. Obama directed the Environmental Protection Agency to reconsider the Bush administration’s past rejection of the California application. While he stopped short of flatly ordering the reversal of the Bush decision, the agency’s regulators are now widely expected to do so after completing a formal review process... The president also directed the Transportation Department to draw up rules to implement a 2007 law requiring a 40 percent improvement in gas mileage for autos and light trucks by 2020. The Bush administration failed to write any regulations to enforce the new law... Ray LaHood, a former Republican congressman from Illinois, and the new Secretary of Transportation, was present for this morning’s announcement and afterwards dismissed the auto makers’ complaints... To avoid losing another year on emissions and fuel efficiency, Mr. Obama will order temporary regulations to be completed by March so that automakers will have enough time to retool for vehicles to be sold in 2011. Final standards for later years will be determined by a separate process that, under Mr. Obama’s order, must take into consideration legal, scientific and technological factors... Mr. Obama said his administration would take into account the financial troubles of the auto industry, which have already received billions of dollars in federal aid and are seeking more... “Our goal is not to further burden the struggling American auto industry,” he said, but rather to make a major step toward addressing global warming by cleaning up the American transportation fleet... (Photo by Stephen Crowley/The New York Times - President Barack Obama signed the presidential memorandum in the White House on Monday)Labels: Obama's Administration
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