PRESIDENT Barack Obama is cleaning up after George W. Bush. Within a week of taking office, Obama ordered the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to reconsider Bush鈥檚 policy of banning states from implementing their own standards for tailpipe emissions.
At issue is a law in California adopted in 2004 that limited emissions from new cars sold in the state. Each car manufacturer had been given until 2016 to cut average emissions across all models in their range by 30 per cent. But the law soon stalled and was eventually blocked by the EPA. Given Obama鈥檚 , the agency is now expected to reinstate the law.
Since 2004, 16 other states have decided to follow California鈥檚 example, together accounting for more than half the new car market in the US, so Obama鈥檚 decision could have a major impact on greenhouse gas emissions from vehicle exhausts.
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