Mary Peters--the Next Alberto Gonzales
U.S. Trying to Block Calif. on Emissions
By Juliet Eilperin Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, September 25, 2007; A03
The Bush administration has conducted a concerted, behind-the-scenes lobbying campaign to try to generate opposition to California's request to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks, according to documents obtained by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
. . . California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) has threatened to sue if EPA does not rule on the waiver by Oct. 22. . .
. . . One May 22 e-mail written by Jeff Shane, undersecretary of transportation for policy, outlined how Transportation Secretary Mary Peters orchestrated the campaign. Peters "asked that we develop some ideas asap about facilitating a pushback from governors (esp. D's) and others opposed to piecemeal regulation of emissions, as per CA's waiver petition," Shane wrote. "She has heard that such objections could have an important effect on the way Congress looks at the issue."
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Just how "the issue comes in the context" of President Bush's call to cut gasoline use by 20 percent by using alternative fuels and increasing fuel efficiency for cars and trucks squares with administration unwillingness to let the states enhance that context, is anyone's guess. Except over on K-Street, where the auto industry has the president's ear. Not only his ear, but his sense of how government operates in a free society. Here we go again, folks. Go get 'em, Arnold.
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