EPA Denies California Clean Car Waiver, California Sues

On January 2nd, the State of California took the US EPA to Federal Court to obtain a waiver to implement Clean Car Regulations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The EPA denied the waiver request on December 19th, in opposition to its own scientific and legal advisors.

On December 19, 2007 the U.S. EPA denied California the waiver it needed to enact its Clean Car Regulation, blocking California's and 16 states' attempt to address global warming from motor vehicles. EPA chief Stephen Johnson ignored the EPA's own legal and technical teams that recommended granting the waiver. Johnson repeated the automakers' fear of a "patchwork of state rules" to address climate change.

California Interfaith Power and Light has been a long-time supporter of the law requiring a 30 percent reduction in vehicle greenhouse-gas emissions by 2016. We believe we must take action at all levels, including the federal and international level, but also in our cities, places of worship, and in our own homes. The threat is too great, and we do not have time for political maneuvering that ignores the overwhelming scientific and moral imperatives presented by global warming.

California Attorney General Jerry Brown has stated, "There is absolutely no legal justification for the Bush administration to deny this request," and that California will respond to the waiver denial in court.

CIPL supports California's efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and will keep you updated on the State's efforts to obtain the waiver.

Federal Court Upholds California Clean Car Law

CIPL wishes to thank the 300+ signatories on our letter asking Toyota to withdraw from the automaker's lawsuit against California's Clean Car Law. Although Toyota did not withdraw from the suit, on December 12, 2007, a federal judge in Fresno ruled in favor of California's landmark law establishing vehicle greenhouse-gas reduction standards. The ruling rejected the auto industry's challenge to California's Clean Cars Law. The law requires automakers to cut tailpipe emissions by 25 percent from cars and trucks, and 18 percent from sport utility vehicles, starting with 2009 models. It's estimated the new rules would slice global-warming emissions in the state by as much as 30 percent by 2020.

"Both EPA and California . . . are equally empowered through the Clean Air Act to promulgate regulations that limit the emissions of greenhouse gases, principally carbon dioxide, from motor vehicles," U.S. District Court Judge Anthony W. Ishii said, citing recent decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court and a federal court in Vermont.

Under the Clean Air Act, California has the authority to enact its own tougher regulations once it gets EPA permission. Other states can then choose either the federal or California standards. At least 16 states are poised to follow California's lead. California is awaiting a waiver from the EPA, which was requested nearly two years ago.

California Interfaith Power and Light urges the federal EPA to act quickly to approve California's waiver request to implement these critical vehicle standards.

Info on CIPL's campaign asking Toyota to withdraw from the automaker's lawsuit is below: 

300 Religious Leaders Ask Toyota

to Drop Lawsuit Against California Clean Car Law
Sign on Letter to Toyota Motors regarding AB1493

On October 17, 2007, California Interfaith Power and Light (CIPL) delivered a letter signed by 300 religious leaders to Toyota's U.S. Headquarters in Torrance, California, asking Toyota to withdraw from the automaker's lawsuit against AB 1493, a landmark law to limit greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles sold in California.

Background:

In 2002, California passed AB 1493, a landmark law to limit greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles sold in California. The bill simply requires that all auto manufacturers use the most feasible and cost-effective methods for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks. Unfortunately it has not been implemented yet.

Major auto manufacturers, including Toyota Motors, are suing the state of California in an attempt to avoid complying with AB 1493. Ironically, Toyota has worked hard to develop a good reputation for environmental stewardship, so they have a lot to lose by suing the state over this bill.

The sign-on letter was delivered to Toyota Motors on October 17, 2007, asking them to withdraw from the lawsuit opposing AB 1493. The letter is below.

Pastor Ryan Bell of Hollywood Seventh Day Adventist Church, Steve Fox from Temple Isaiah Green Team, and Rev. Paul Lance from Seaside Community Church in Torrance deliver the sign-on letter to Toyota Headquarters on October 17, 2007. The letter asks Toyota to drop out of the lawsuit against the State of California over its Clean Car Law.

Media Coverage:

Faiths take legal fight to automakers, Contra Costa Times, June 18, 2007

Toyota faces pressure from interfaith group, Torrance Daily Breeze, October 17, 2007

Text of the Letter:

To:
Yuki Funo, CEO of Toyota Motor North America
Shigeru Hayakawa, President

Dear Toyota Motors:

As representatives from many faith traditions, we ask that Toyota withdraw its lawsuit opposing AB 1493, California's landmark law to limit greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks.

We urge that Toyota, the world's largest automobile manufacturer, play a leadership role in the greatest moral dilemma of our time: the race to stop the catastrophic damage that is being done to our sacred planet and its citizens by global warming.

Never before in our history has a generation been faced with a challenge of such magnitude and moral consequence as the one before us today.

The scientific debate on global warming is over. The threat is real, and the consequences of inaction could be devastating beyond anything in human history. Rising oceans, monstrous hurricanes and searing heat waves, severe water and crop shortages, global famine and massive population displacement, an end to life on earth as we know it, is what science warns us awaits if we stand idly by and do nothing.

Thankfully, science also tells us that we have not yet reached our global tipping point. There is still a small window of time left in which we can and must act, in which we can and must significantly reduce the causes of global warming, namely, the emission of greenhouse gases.

In California, over 40 percent of greenhouse gas emissions come directly from the vehicles we drive. AB 1493 simply requires that all auto manufacturers use the most feasible and cost-effective reductions for greenhouse gas emissions for cars and trucks. According to the California Air Resources Board, which is charged with implementing AB 1493, the average consumer will actually save money because of these technology improvements.

But our reason for our appeal is much more than just money. Every major religious faith calls on its believers to be faithful stewards of Creation, the web of life that surrounds us, and binds us to each other and to our planet. We all have a moral responsibility to protect Creation to ensure a healthy and sustainable future for our children and the generations that follow.

As clergy and other religious leaders, we are educating our congregations about the dangers of global warming and our moral responsibility to protect Creation. Here in California, over 450 congregations of all faiths have committed to taking action by joining California Interfaith Power and Light (CIPL). Nationally, we are over 4,000 congregations strong and growing. Every day, more and more people of faith are realizing that we all have a moral responsibility to act now to save our planet.

As the worlds' largest car manufacturer, Toyota can make a world of difference. Please withdraw from your lawsuit against the citizens of California. Instead of being an impediment to a global solution, we urge you to use your engineers and your technological leadership to be a positive force in solving the moral challenge of our lifetime.

In good faith,

Click here to see the 300 signatories

Thank you for all your support! For questions call 510-444-4078 x 319.