Jerry Brown Has a Head of Steam

Since the Supreme Court ruled last month that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are pollutants subject to regulation by the Environmental Protection Agency, individual states—led by California—have been pushing the federal government to restrict greenhouse gases emitted by cars, known as “tailpipe emissions.” On Tuesday, Brown will ask the EPA to allow California and 12 other states to impose their own stricter standards on tailpipe emissions—or else, he says, California will sue the federal government. Although Brown took office only four months ago, this is not his first environmental battle with the Bush administration: last week, California sued the administration in federal court, arguing that Washington’s fuel-economy standards for SUVs are too lax [the Bush administration believes the fleet average is sufficient—and points out that the president has ordered tougher standards for the future].
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18783412/site/newsweek/
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Jerry Brown is tough on the Federal Government, but he may be too tough. Brown should allow some time for the fuel-economy standards to gradually become more stringent. The government and public needs time to adjust to becoming more environmentally friendly. The environment being a concern to politicians is a recent phenomenon. Why didn't politicians care enough 10 years ago, or 20 years ago? Could an image of caring for the environment be for personal political gain because it allows them to be in the limelight? Possible. Sueing the federal government doesnt appear to be much of an incentive to propelling the government to speed up tougher green-house laws, but it sure does help Jerry Brown gain public attention.

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