A federal judge in Vermont just rejected an attempt by automakers to block individual states from adopting their own standards for limiting greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks. This just goes to show us all that the argument that the states are making is a no brainer. Regulating greenhouse gases from cars has NOTHING to do with federal fuel economy standards. Way to go District court of Vermont!

California's efforts to combat global warming with tough restrictions on tailpipe emissions got a boost Wednesday from a federal judge, who upheld states' right to require that vehicles emit far fewer pollutants.

The complete article can be viewed here.

What's next? Since the Supreme Court has already ruled in favor of the states, the ball is in the EPA's court. The Clean Air Act allows California to set its own emissions standards, provided that it gets a routine waiver from the EPA. EPA's granting of a federal waiver to California is thus the next step in the regulatory process. California has never been denied a waiver in past instances of other regulatory action, but in this case has still not been granted one even though they applied for it in December of 2005!

The Governor signed the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), in which Maryland became the 10th state to join the Northeast regional climate change and energy efficiency program.

March 28, 2007 –The Clean Cars Act has been approved with no significant amendments by both the Maryland House and the Senate and is virtually guaranteed to pass out of Conference Committee this legislative session, which ends on April 9^th. The Clean Cars Act regulates carbon dioxide emissions from all cars sold in Maryland and ensures that the state will greatly reduce its contribution to global warming.