http://www.marketwatch.com/news/sto...x?guid={1D795790-C847-4477-B03B-37799EEA55AC}
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- The Environmental Protection Agency's refusal to let California do what it has done for decades, set stricter emission standards, has outraged environmentalists and politicos who see the heavy hand of Detroit in the decision.
They should take a deep breath. The ruling is already headed for obsolescence, the victim of market forces far beyond the EPA's control.
Since its heyday, Detroit's corporate DNA was designed to oppose change, decrying the onerous burden California's emission standards impose on the industry. The Golden State embarked the crusade to clean up its air in the 1940s, when the smog blanketing Los Angeles was nearly as bad as modern-day Beijing's.
The state has achieved impressive results. Among the most noteworthy: Its insistence 30 years ago that any new car sold in California carry a catalytic converter and burn unleaded gasoline. The move, which met stiff resistance from the auto industry, far superseded federal standards at the time. But it eventually spread around the world and put California at the forefront of the environment movement.
The Golden State embarked the crusade to clean up its air in the 1940s, when the smog blanketing Los Angeles was nearly as bad as modern-day Beijing's.
Those victories were achieved because of the market clout of California's 38 million residents. Once the state's stricter pollution standards became law, carmakers applied them to entire product lines, regardless of whether the cars were destined for San Diego or St. Louis.
Despite the latest EPA ruling, that kind of market clout still works.
Seeing an opportunity to push the next generation of clean technology, California's independent-minded Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger petitioned the Bush administration for a federal waiver to once again set emissions standards tougher than those of the EPA.
The Bush EPA sat on the decision long enough to get a new energy bill signed into law; that happened Wednesday. Later that day, EPA administrator Stephen Johnson announced what many Californian legislators anticipated: waiver denied.
Johnson emphatically stated that the new energy bill, which raises auto fuel-efficiency standards for the first time in 32 years, is a national -- not a California -- standard, an interesting twist for a party that typically favors states' rights.
But this story extends far beyond California's borders. The waiver denied by the EPA also has the backing of 16 other states. Together, they encompass over half the nation's population. This takes market clout to a whole new level, lining up massive support behind the next chapter in this saga: California's pending lawsuit against the EPA.
The outcome of that fight could well be determined in next year's presidential election. Schwarzenegger is already banking on a more sympathetic ear in Washington so that the Golden State, and 16 like-minded states, can get back to the business of saving the planet, one tailpipe at a time.
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- The Environmental Protection Agency's refusal to let California do what it has done for decades, set stricter emission standards, has outraged environmentalists and politicos who see the heavy hand of Detroit in the decision.
They should take a deep breath. The ruling is already headed for obsolescence, the victim of market forces far beyond the EPA's control.
Since its heyday, Detroit's corporate DNA was designed to oppose change, decrying the onerous burden California's emission standards impose on the industry. The Golden State embarked the crusade to clean up its air in the 1940s, when the smog blanketing Los Angeles was nearly as bad as modern-day Beijing's.
The state has achieved impressive results. Among the most noteworthy: Its insistence 30 years ago that any new car sold in California carry a catalytic converter and burn unleaded gasoline. The move, which met stiff resistance from the auto industry, far superseded federal standards at the time. But it eventually spread around the world and put California at the forefront of the environment movement.
The Golden State embarked the crusade to clean up its air in the 1940s, when the smog blanketing Los Angeles was nearly as bad as modern-day Beijing's.
Those victories were achieved because of the market clout of California's 38 million residents. Once the state's stricter pollution standards became law, carmakers applied them to entire product lines, regardless of whether the cars were destined for San Diego or St. Louis.
Despite the latest EPA ruling, that kind of market clout still works.
Seeing an opportunity to push the next generation of clean technology, California's independent-minded Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger petitioned the Bush administration for a federal waiver to once again set emissions standards tougher than those of the EPA.
The Bush EPA sat on the decision long enough to get a new energy bill signed into law; that happened Wednesday. Later that day, EPA administrator Stephen Johnson announced what many Californian legislators anticipated: waiver denied.
Johnson emphatically stated that the new energy bill, which raises auto fuel-efficiency standards for the first time in 32 years, is a national -- not a California -- standard, an interesting twist for a party that typically favors states' rights.
But this story extends far beyond California's borders. The waiver denied by the EPA also has the backing of 16 other states. Together, they encompass over half the nation's population. This takes market clout to a whole new level, lining up massive support behind the next chapter in this saga: California's pending lawsuit against the EPA.
The outcome of that fight could well be determined in next year's presidential election. Schwarzenegger is already banking on a more sympathetic ear in Washington so that the Golden State, and 16 like-minded states, can get back to the business of saving the planet, one tailpipe at a time.
