The empire strikes back—against California. From the Christian Science Monitor, Dec. 21:

The Environmental Protection Agency's decision to refuse California's request to regulate greenhouse-gas emissions from automobiles is all but certain to provoke lawsuits that could tie the matter up in court, potentially delaying action to curb those emissions for years.

But the move might be struck down – or an injunction granted – in months, if courts find the EPA acted against the advice of its own lawyers, legal experts say. The decision also holds potential for Congress to become involved as debate over climate-change legislation accelerates.

In the surprise announcement Wednesday, EPA administrator Stephen Johnson said that fuel-economy standards in the brand-new energy law would cut greenhouse-gas emissions nationwide and thus make unnecessary sometimes contradictory state regulations.

"The Bush administration is moving forward with a clear national solution – not a confusing patchwork of state rules," Mr. Johnson said. "President Bush and Congress have set the bar high, and, when fully implemented, our federal fuel economy standard will achieve significant benefits by applying to all 50 states."

But in denying California – and 16 other states poised to adopt nearly identical regulations – the right to regulate tailpipe greenhouse-gas emissions, the EPA acted against the agency's own well-established regulatory precedent, legal analysts say, and reportedly may also have acted against the advice of its own lawyers.

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