California & Co. vs Bush & Co.

There was the expected flurry of action and comment following California's lawsuit over its hopes for tougher vehicle emkission standards. Numerous states have joined the lawsuit, including little ones like New York, Illinois, Florida and Pennsylvania. No, not Texas or Oklahoma. Nor Kansas, they're too caught up in their battle over coal-fired generating plants.

Here's a nice compendium of comments from those concerned about the outcome of this lawsuit. It is clear the auto industry does not want individual states pushing them around. They want to play in the national political arena where they can focus their lobbying dollars and have more sway.

Here's an update on the states involved in this lawsuit now.

This has become a stellar issue for California's Republican governor. He gets to champion a cause not popular with the national Republican Party, and one that looks good at home. He's once again the Governator, all guns a-blazin'. A recent survey of Californians showed "82 percent said global warming poses a serious threat to California's overall quality of life." And, out here on the Left Coast, man, you muck with our quality of life, we sue your sorry....

Tighter emisson controls in California and the other states can only be good news for the folks working on hyrbids, electric cars and many of the biodiesel and biofuel products. The EPA has said it planned to issue a ruling on the California law before the end of this calendar year anyway.