Fuming over fumes: Bush's E.P.A. versus California, New York and Co.

Of course, the current version of the "Environmental Protection Agency" has been loath to move toward tougher emission standards for car and trucks in the U.S. Two years California movced to put in place tougher standards for car in that state, but the E.P.A. has not granted a waiver. In addition there is apparently a plan for New York, California and other states to sue the feds over the national government's reluctance to take action against greenhouse gas emissions. This is not calculated to please Vice President Cheney and the petroleum/automaker axis. The lawsuit over the tougher emissions standards may be filed this week or next.

Now the New York Times reports that states in the northeast are moving on another front, "On Wednesday [October 24], Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s administration is to issue regulations requiring power plants to pay for their greenhouse gas emissions, part of a broader plan among 10 Northeastern states, known as the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, to move beyond federal regulators in Washington and regulate such emissions on their own."

The regs on electricity generation would favor renewable energhy such as wind and solar, asnd it would be costly to coal-burning plants because of their heavy emissions.