Mass., other states seek freedom on auto emissions

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley is getting her say today as the Environmental Protection Agency holds a hearing on whether to allow states to set tougher auto emissions standards than the federal government.

In his first week in office, President Obama ordered the EPA to reconsider a petition from Massachusetts and more than a dozen other states that want to enact rules by California. The Bush administration had blocked the request. Obama's order was part of a broader push to wean the country from foreign oil and cut carbon emissions to lessen global warming, overturning skepticism from the Bush years.

"Since the EPA will ultimately have to set federal standards at least as strict as those already set by California, the debate about whether there should be one set of national standards is in the end much ado about nothing,” Coakley said in a statement. “We are urging the agency to grant the California waiver while it proceeds to put federal standards in place that will establish national standards at least as strict.”

In its comments to the EPA, Coakley said her office is focusing on one policy issue: whether there should be only one set of nationwide auto emissions standards to address arguments from the auto industry that a single set of standards is necessary to help the battered industry. The comments say that the EPA can achieve the automakers’ goal of having national standards by adopting ones at least as strict as those set by California.

Coakley also urges the EPA not to undermine states' authority to adopt stricter standards, arguing that the current rules have "driven technological and regulatory innovation, and economic and environmental progress."