Late yesterday the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee approved a bill on straight party lines that would prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse gases even though a series of court cases – which ended at the U.S. Supreme Court – said EPA had the right to do so.
HR 910, the Energy Tax Prevention Act of 2011 would amend the general provisions of the Clean Air Act (CAA) to establish a rule prohibiting the Administrator of the EPA from regulating greenhouse gases (GHG) to address climate change. By changing the CAA, the bill undercuts the basis for the Supreme Court’s decision.
Since nothing in the Act precludes states from pursuing their own GHG policies, this is a severe setback for automakers that need one coordinated national standard for fuel economy and CO2 emissions. If passed by the full House (likely) and the Senate (maybe) the Act faces a certain veto from President Obama. No one knows if there are enough votes in the Senate to override a veto, but the parallel Senate bill has some Democratic support.
Section 3 of the Act would amend CAA section 209(b) to exclude greenhouse gases from the Administrator’s waiver authority for new motor vehicles or new motor vehicle engines for Model Year 2017 and any other subsequent model year. So the fuel economy regulations that are being rolled out between now and 2016 that establish a 35.5 mpg Corporate Average Fuel economy are intact.
A bitter irony for automakers is that the Energy and Commerce Committee is chaired by Congressman Fred Upton from Michigan.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
Fred Upton on the Energy Tax Prevention Act:
There’s an old adage that says when you find yourself in a hole, stop digging. Today, America finds itself in an economic hole dug deeper and deeper amid excessive federal spending and costly regulations. If we allow the Environmental Protection Agency to ignore the will of Congress and move forward with its global warming regulatory agenda, I believe this economic hole will only crater further. The Energy Tax Prevention Act is a bill to stop the digging and prevent further economic harm at the government’s hands.
Gasoline prices are rapidly heading toward the $4/gallon levels last seen in the summer of 2008. But by all accounts we were headed toward this new price before unrest in Libya and other Middle Eastern countries. A host of regulations, including mountains of federal restrictions on domestic oil drilling and refining, make a bad situation worse by increasing our dependence on imports. Make no mistake – if we allow the EPA to move forward unchecked, its actions will only drive gasoline and other energy prices higher.
Part of EPA’s agenda is its proposal to regulate carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions from domestic refiners. These newest GHG regulations will apply to both new and existing refineries. At hearings on this bill, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson was remarkably hazy on what requirements she planned to impose in the final version of this rule. But to suggest that such a policy will not raise the cost of refining oil into gasoline and ultimately the price at the pump is flat-out wrong.
For 2017 and beyond, the bill returns regulation of motor vehicle fuel economy where is has stood since the 1970s, with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which balances fuel economy with other factors including vehicle cost and safety. Our goal is to give clear responsibility to a single agency – something President Obama recommended in his State of the Union address. No longer will the EPA or the state of California be able to overrule NHTSA.
There are a host of reasons to support H.R. 910, but let me put it simply. This bill says “stop” to an EPA attempting to impose policies we cannot afford that will destroy jobs we cannot afford to lose. By passing this bill, we can put Congress back in charge of setting the energy and environmental policies that will allow our nation to create jobs, bring down prices at the pump, and make America more secure and energy independent.
(These remarks are excerpted – Ken Zino)