The same day that President Bush signed the energy bill that will raise national auto efficiency averages to 35 mpg by 2020, the EPA announced that they will NOT grant the waiver for California to enforce GHG limits on automobiles. The EPA administrator alluded to the new energy legislation in a press release on the EPA website: "The Bush Administration is moving forward with a clear national solution – not a confusing patchwork of state rules – to reduce America’s climate footprint from vehicles," said U.S. EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson. Johnson also stated that California "does not meet the compelling and extraordinary conditions needed to grant a waiver for motor vehicle greenhouse gas emission standards" and he refers to the new energy bill as "a better approach than if individual states were to act alone.” If the waiver had been granted by the EPA, the tailpipe standards California adopted in 2004 would have forced automakers to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent in new cars and light trucks by 2016, with the cutbacks beginning in the 2009 model year. This would have started reducing GHG emissions much more quickly than the energy bill just approved. Twelve other states — Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington — have adopted the California emissions standards, and the governors of Arizona, Colorado, Florida and Utah have said they also plan to adopt them. The rules were also under consideration in Iowa. With Wednesday’s denial, those other states are also prevented from moving forward. | 
