California v. the EPA

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is right to sue the Environmental Protection Agency.

FIVE YEARS after the California legislature passed its stringent tailpipe emission standards; two years after the state applied for a waiver from the Environmental Protection Agency that would allow the new rules to take effect; one year after sending a second letter to President Bush explaining the urgency of EPA action; and six months after warning the administration that the state would take the EPA to court if no decision on the waiver was reached by the end of last month, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) did just that. And he was right to do it.

The California emission rules are the nation's toughest. Starting with the 2009 model year, automakers would be required to make cars and light trucks that reduce carbon dioxide emissions 30 percent by 2016. Because California's tough laws predate those of the federal government, the Clean Air Act permits this, as long as the state's standards are at least as tough as the federal standards, are not arbitrary and win clearance from the EPA. The state has never been denied such a waiver, earning more than 40 in the past 30 years.

The law also allows other states to adopt the Golden State's rules. Fourteen states, including Maryland, have done so and have joined the California lawsuit against the EPA. If the waiver were granted, Mr. Schwarzenegger's office says, the greenhouse gas reductions in all the participating states would be equivalent to taking 22 million vehicles off the road and cutting gasoline consumption by 11 billion gallons a year.

President Bush, after seven years of denials, finally acknowledged this summer that global warming needs to addressed. But when it comes to doing something about it, his administration falls short. Mr. Bush talks about "aspirational goals" instead of binding carbon dioxide reduction targets. EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson says he's studying the comments on the California waiver, while Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters has lobbied against it.

Mr. Johnson says his decision on the waiver will be announced by the end of the year. It must come sooner for there to be any hope of the California standards being implemented. And the only acceptable decision is "request granted." Anything else would be further proof that the Bush administration's newfound interest in climate change is all talk and no action.