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Carl Pope Testifies Before Senate Panel Examining Bush Administration's Unlawful Denial of California Clean Cars Waiver EPA Administrator Refuses to Testify, Stalls on Releasing Documents Los Angeles, Calif.-Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope joined other California leaders in testifying before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee at a field briefing held today in Los Angeles. The briefing is part of Sen. Barbara Boxer's probe into the Environmental Protection Agency's unlawful December 19, 2007 decision to deny California's request for the Clean Air Act waiver it needs to implement its landmark global warming emissions standards for vehicles. The standards, due to be implemented or adopted by at least 17 additional states, would reduce global warming pollution from autos 30 percent by 2016-significantly more than the reduction to come from the recently passed increase in fuel economy standards. Rep. Henry Waxman, Chair of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee in the House, has also launched a probe into EPA's actions-particularly reports that Administrator Johnson overruled the unanimous recommendation of the agency's legal and technical staffs. On January 2nd, the Sierra Club joined California, 15 additional states and other environmental groups in a lawsuit seeking to overturn EPA's arbitrary and unlawful denial of the waiver. EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson refused to attend today's briefing and EPA has not cooperated with repeated requests from Congress to produce internal documents relating to the decision in a timely manner. Carl Pope's full written testimony can be found at: http://www.sierraclub.org/pressroom/downloads/2008-01-07popetestimony.pdf Excerpts from Carl Pope's Written Testimony "I think it is fair to say that in the intervening 37 years [since passage of the Clean Air Act], no Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency has issued a decision which more flagrantly violated the clear language and intent of the Clean Air Act, or more fundamentally threatened the American people. "Furthermore, it is abundantly clear the Bush Administration fully and profoundly understands precisely what it is doing. This is not a matter of conflicting interpretations of the facts or the law. It is a conscious, intentional dereliction of duty." --- "Administrator Johnson's decision simply throws away a tremendous opportunity to help solve the global warming crisis." --- "The California Clean Car standards are consistent with the Clean Air Act, and the Administrator's lawyers have told it so. "They are consistent with the Administration's commitments to the world in Bali, and to the Administration's stated policy of favoring measures which achieve multiple goals at once. "The Administration has conceded that the Congressional CAFE program is inadequate. "The Administration has conceded that to avoid runaway climate change we need to deploy every cost effective measure we have available. "They are inconsistent with only one thing: the Administration's apparent desire to hand the climate crisis on to its successor unchecked. "This is an example not only of lawlessness, but of horrendous, horrendous irresponsibility." # # # Carl Pope Testifies Before Senate Panel Examining Bush Administration's Unlawful Denial of California Clean Cars Waiver EPA Administrator Refuses to Testify, Stalls on Releasing Documents Los Angeles, Calif.-Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope joined other California leaders in testifying before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee at a field briefing held today in Los Angeles. The briefing is part of Sen. Barbara Boxer's probe into the Environmental Protection Agency's unlawful December 19, 2007 decision to deny California's request for the Clean Air Act waiver it needs to implement its landmark global warming emissions standards for vehicles. The standards, due to be implemented or adopted by at least 17 additional states, would reduce global warming pollution from autos 30 percent by 2016-significantly more than the reduction to come from the recently passed increase in fuel economy standards. Rep. Henry Waxman, Chair of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee in the House, has also launched a probe into EPA's actions-particularly reports that Administrator Johnson overruled the unanimous recommendation of the agency's legal and technical staffs. On January 2nd, the Sierra Club joined California, 15 additional states and other environmental groups in a lawsuit seeking to overturn EPA's arbitrary and unlawful denial of the waiver. EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson refused to attend today's briefing and EPA has not cooperated with repeated requests from Congress to produce internal documents relating to the decision in a timely manner. Carl Pope's full written testimony can be found at: http://www.sierraclub.org/pressroom/downloads/2008-01-07popetestimony.pdf Excerpts from Carl Pope's Written Testimony "I think it is fair to say that in the intervening 37 years [since passage of the Clean Air Act], no Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency has issued a decision which more flagrantly violated the clear language and intent of the Clean Air Act, or more fundamentally threatened the American people. "Furthermore, it is abundantly clear the Bush Administration fully and profoundly understands precisely what it is doing. This is not a matter of conflicting interpretations of the facts or the law. It is a conscious, intentional dereliction of duty." --- "Administrator Johnson's decision simply throws away a tremendous opportunity to help solve the global warming crisis." --- "The California Clean Car standards are consistent with the Clean Air Act, and the Administrator's lawyers have told it so. "They are consistent with the Administration's commitments to the world in Bali, and to the Administration's stated policy of favoring measures which achieve multiple goals at once. "The Administration has conceded that the Congressional CAFE program is inadequate. "The Administration has conceded that to avoid runaway climate change we need to deploy every cost effective measure we have available. "They are inconsistent with only one thing: the Administration's apparent desire to hand the climate crisis on to its successor unchecked. "This is an example not only of lawlessness, but of horrendous, horrendous irresponsibility." # # # |
