Bush moves to regulate auto emissions

As gasoline prices reached an all-time high and congressional Democrats prepared to push ambitious energy legislation, President Bush on Monday ordered his administration to take a step it had long avoided: regulating carbon dioxide emissions from cars and trucks.

Using the grandeur of the White House Rose Garden to draw attention to his unscheduled announcement, Bush said he took the action to meet his stated goal of reducing vehicle gasoline use by 20% over 10 years.

“When it comes to energy and the environment, the American people expect common sense, and they expect action,” Bush said.

Critics accused Bush of trying to make a virtue out of necessity, saying he was forced to act out of legal and political obligations and noting that it was unclear what, if any, new regulation would result.

Last month, the Supreme Court ruled that the Clean Air Act required the administration to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles or to offer a scientific explanation for not taking action.

In coming weeks, the Democratic-led Congress plans to make it a priority to pass legislation to reduce greenhouse gases and U.S. dependence on foreign oil, including a measure to increase fuel efficiency standards.

“The White House merely announced its intention to propose a rule that may or may not have a real impact on global warming emissions,” said Philip Clapp, president of the National Environmental Trust.

In his remarks, Bush did not endorse increasing fuel efficiency. And although he spoke about the need to “protect the environment,” he did not explicitly link greenhouse gas emissions to global warming.

He ordered federal agencies to define the threat caused by carbon dioxide emissions and evaluate responses by the end of 2008. Bush leaves office in January 2009.

“This is a complicated legal and technical matter, and it’s going to take time to fully resolve,” he said.

California officials and some environmentalists were skeptical of Bush’s motives, saying he might be trying to keep individual states from implementing laws to cut tailpipe emissions.

Under federal law, only California is allowed to pass its own air pollution laws, but it must obtain a waiver from the Environmental Protection Agency. After California receives permission, other states can follow. The state submitted a waiver request for its landmark vehicle emissions law in December 2005. Eleven other states have adopted similar laws.

“We are concerned that this is a recipe for delay of our waiver and denial of our waiver,” said Linda Adams, secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency. “We are concerned that this is a stalling tactic.”

Environmentalists share California’s concerns.

Frank O’Donnell of Clean Air Watch said Bush’s order was an attempt to “sandbag California’s request for a waiver.”

At least two factors propelled Bush’s move.

First, the Supreme Court ruled six weeks ago in a lawsuit filed by California and other states that carbon dioxide is a pollutant that qualifies for regulation. The administration had argued that it did not have the authority to regulate it.

Second, public pressure to respond to the threat of global warming has grown significantly since Bush became president. Democrats, who took control of Congress this year, are preparing a raft of energy proposals, some of which may be voted on shortly after a Memorial Day recess.

“Democrats are committed to achieving greater energy independence -- an issue this administration and past Republican Congresses have failed to adequately address,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said.

U.S. automakers, whose vehicles are less efficient than European or Japanese cars and trucks, have opposed congressionally mandated increases in fuel standards, arguing that lighter cars are not as safe and that consumer demand has driven up vehicle size and inefficiency.

“Automakers support reforming and raising car fuel economy standards consistent with the need to preserve jobs and consumer choice,” said Dave McCurdy, president of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers.

Bush’s announcement came on the same day the Energy Department announced that gasoline pump prices had reached their highest level ever -- a national average of $3.10 a gallon.

White House officials said it was a coincidence that Bush chose to talk about fuel use and vehicle emissions.

“If you’re looking for a political calculation or some extraneous factor that prompted the timing, there is none,” White House spokesman Tony Snow said. “Basically it’s ripe, and therefore that’s why we’re doing it today.”

White House officials say Bush has long been concerned about greenhouse gas emissions and their effects on the climate.

His public statements have been equivocal, often suggesting the science is incomplete and the economic effects of regulation are potentially dire.

Bush’s comments Monday suggested he supported regulation with those caveats, saying that he had instructed agencies “to listen to public input, to carefully consider safety, science and available technologies, and evaluate the benefits and costs before they put forth the new regulation.”

EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson said the regulatory process was lengthy but he expected his agency to complete the first stage this fall and to release a formal finding on whether carbon dioxide endangered the public.

Johnson said the agency would consider increasing fuel efficiency standards and alternative fuels, but he said he could not predict what regulations would emerge.

“It just seemed logical that we would be pursuing both of those,” he said, “certainly as part of our proposal.”

maura.reynolds@latimes.com

richard.simon@latimes.com

Times staff writer Janet Wilson in Los Angeles contributed to this report.