New Report Affirms Benefits of California Clean Air Leadership

California’s stricter emissions standards for cars, lawnmowers, and other mobile sources of air pollution are scientifically valid and beneficial for Californians and other Americans.

A study released last week by the National Research Council, a non-partisan group that provides scientific and technical advice to the federal government, found that “California should continue its pioneering role in setting mobile-source emissions standards. The role will aid the state’s efforts to achieve air quality goals and will allow it to continue to be a proving ground for new emissions-control technologies that benefit California and the rest of the nation.”

California, because it was a leader in cracking down on car emissions and cleaning up its air, has a special status under the federal Clean Air Act. It alone among states can set emissions standards for cars, trucks, and small engines that differ from federal standards. Other states have the choice to adopt the stricter California standards or the federal standards. Many states have followed California’s path to cleaner air and fewer emissions.

In 2003, some in Congress questioned the wisdom of California’s special role, and asked for a National Research Council study. The study resoundingly affirmed that California’s ability to set emissions standards, and other states’ ability to adopt those standards, is a good thing.

The study did not address the wisdom or scientific validity of California’s latest emissions initiative, which is to cut greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change.

The study’s executive summary is available here. The full report is available here, and a press release from the National Research Council is here.

To read about how federalism concerns are playing out in the debate about policy responses to global warming, please visit our blog, www.warminglaw.com

Return to the Redefining Federalism homepage
To visit our main site, go to www.communityrights.org