Yesterday, automakers filed a motion to dismiss a long-running challenge to a set of California auto emission standards.   The automakers had alleged that California’s so-called “Pavley” standards for greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles were preempted by federal law.  In 2008, the automakers lost their case following a trial, and had appealed to the U.S. [...]

For good reason, many climate activists view 2009 as a disappointing year, filled with bad news coverage and missed opportunities.  The Senate seems a long way from passing a clean energy jobs bill, and the long-anticipated U.N. summit in Copenhagen has come and gone, producing only an unambitious, non-binding agreement among world leaders.  Moreover, late [...]

In May, President Obama announced that he had reached an agreement with the State of California and automakers over standards for vehicular emissions of greenhouse gases. The President stated that the federal government would adopt California’s famed “Pavley” auto emission standards nationwide – in addition to granting California’s long-sought waiver of federal preemption in order [...]

In a bold and sweeping policy memorandum issued today, President Obama reaffirmed the critical role that state and local governments play in our constitutional system. The President’s memorandum directs executive branch officials to review every regulation adopted in the past ten years to scrub them of inappropriate preemption language.
In an assault on federalism and [...]

On the same day news sources reported that the White House is planning to set federal auto emissions standards at the same level set by California in its embattled “Pavley” standards, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit decided today to put on hold an appeal brought by the auto industry challenging the [...]

The NY Times and Politico are reporting that President Obama is planning to introduce new national auto emission standards that would raise the entire country to the standards set by  California known as the “Pavley” standards, as well as harmonize these emissions standards with current national corporate average fuel economy (CAFÉ) standards.  The Pavley standards [...]