Annals of irritance

Feinstein agrees with Big Auto about federal fuel efficiency standards

Posted by David Roberts at 3:04 PM on 13 Dec 2007

UPDATE: Feinstein is now trying to dig out of this.

In all the galling news of today, this probably ranks as a mere annoyance, but still: Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.) has her imprimatur on an expression of opinion that could, if it became law, void her own state's pioneering tailpipe pollution laws, just when the courts are explicitly upholding them.

Some background: As you probably know, one of the fondest dreams of the American auto industry is to get something passed in legislation that would, in effect, override the court decision in Mass. v. EPA. That ruling stated explicitly that CO2 is a pollutant under the Clean Air Act and that EPA has authority to regulate it. This has two implications that automakers fear:

EPA could set tailpipe GHG standards that in effect trump CAFE fuel efficiency standards.
States like Calif. can regulate CO2 from tailpipes, and their standards cannot be preempted by federal fuel efficiency standards.

What automakers (and their lackeys in Congress and the White House) want is for Congress to pass legislation stating explicitly that the NHTSA has sole authority over fuel efficiency standards, and that nothing EPA does can be interpreted as overriding standards set by NHTSA. In other words: CAFE trumps EPA and state standards alike.

That would be very, very bad for many reasons, among them that NHTSA is far more biz-friendly than EPA, much less California. Luckily, it's an absolute dealbreaker for Pelosi and House Dems, so there's no way it will end up in the energy bill, despite repeated attempts and support from the White House.

So, that brings us to this morning. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), having given up on getting his preemption amendment in the energy bill, held what's called a "colloquy" with Sens. Feinstein and Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii). He asked them to agree that "these new federal standards [the 35mpg CAFE] will not be undercut in the future by regulations issued by the Environmental Protection Agency regulating greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles."

Incredibly, Feinstein and Inouye agreed, on record. (Here's the PDF.) WTFF? I can't imagine a rationale for this. To buy Levin's vote for the energy bill? Maybe. I doubt it will have all that much legal consequence, though it could muddy the waters.

Mainly it's just irksome. Is Feinstein actively looking for ways to sell out now?

For story: Annals of irritance
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Sen. Landrieu should be excommunicated!

Adding to the annals of irritance - how about our favorite oily Sen. from Louisiana.

I went to her website today to send her a nasty-gram, and was even more galled (if that is even possible) by her release on her homepage entitled "Landrieu Sides with State Over Party in Energy Bill Vote".

If that were not enough to make me totally lose my s*?t - she goes on to add that "We must invest in smart energy solutions for the future, but not at the expense of the states that strengthen our energy security today."

If that argument held any water (or oil) then why did Sens. Hutchison (R-TX) and Murkowski (R-AK) - both from huge oil producing states - vote in favor of ending debate?

The good part of my nasty-gram to her "You are a pitiful excuse for a Senator and should change the navigation on your website from "For Kids" to "For Big Oil" - b/c if you cared at all about kids or the future generations to come you would have done the right thing and showed your support for repealing the appalling tax breaks given to Big Oil (at a time of record profits) in 2005."

And how about ol' John McCain being absent for both cloture votes when all of the other Pres. candidates were present! He can talk the talk, but, like so many on his side of the aisle, can't walk the walk.

by David Ellenberger at 3:40 PM on 13 Dec 2007

bad puns and metaphors

"Annals of irritance" is actually alliterative, by the practice of Old English poets.

But much more importantly, that expression, followed closely by "voiding tailpipe emissions," reminds me of an ancient advertisement often seen in NYC subway cars, back in the day, for some medicine that was promised to cure "la hinchazo'n y la picazo'n de las hemorroides."

The advertisement was inescapable, it seemed, up in the ad band where the wall curves into the ceiling. It was often placed next to that fascinating photo-portrait of Rosalyn Snitow, who reigned as Miss Subways for a remarkably long time [citation needed].

Her long reign, alas, was not a happy one. That was the age of Bernhard Goetz, after all.

Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

by caniscandida at 2:12 AM on 14 Dec 2007

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