Lawmakers move to overturn greenhouse gas standards

PHOENIX - State lawmakers gave final approval Monday to legislation overturning newly enacted vehicle emission standards for greenhouse gases, setting the stage for a showdown with Gov. Janet Napolitano.

The 36-22 vote came as several legislators said a policy as important - and potentially expensive for Arizona consumers - as this should be decided by elected representatives and not imposed unilaterally. They pointed out the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) enacted the standards at the express direction of the governor.

But Rep. Steve Gallardo, D-Phoenix, said lawmakers have known for years about Napolitano's directive and have chosen to do absolutely nothing about greenhouse gas emissions - at least not until voting now to ensure that ADEQ also does nothing.

"We've been asleep at the wheel," he said.

Sen. Jake Flake, R-Snowflake, who crafted the ban on ADEQ action in HB 2017, said it is important to spell out in law that the Legislature sets policy, not the governor and not her hand-picked agency chiefs.

"Maybe we are a day late and a dollar short in doing it," he conceded. "But it's important that we do do it and don't wait forever."

Napolitano has hinted broadly she will veto the measure, saying the new rule is within the powers lawmakers gave to the agency years ago. She also has said that lawmakers sometimes move too slowly and the Legislature is often not "the best body to actually rule on very technical matters."

Monday's House vote came just hours after the state Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which opposes new greenhouse gas emission standards, released a poll that organization President Glenn Hamer said shows Arizonans don't want the new rules. But the questions in that survey, paid for by the business community, suggest the results may be skewed.

For example, one question asks whether people would be willing to pay an extra $3,000 for cars and trucks to meet the new emission standards. More than 60 percent said "no."

Yet figures from the California Air Resources Board, which first adopted the rules Arizona is mimicking, put the cost at less than $1,100.

Hamer acknowledged there is a financial benefit to buying the cars manufactured to the new standards: Their higher fuel efficiency will reduce the need to purchase gasoline - a point never mentioned to those questioned in the survey.

"I don't believe it really matters in terms of all the details," he said.

Rep. David Schapira, D-Tempe, said he believes people are willing to pay something extra to minimize the effects of global warming caused by increased emissions of carbon dioxide, not only from vehicles but also industrial sources.

He said there is evidence that climate change already is taking place, with effects ranging from more severe hurricanes to more wildfires.

But House Speaker Jim Weiers, R-Phoenix, said that is irrelevant to the debate over HB 2017.

"This isn't about greenhouse effect, this isn't about the environment," he said. Weiers said these kind of policy decisions should be reviewed by the Legislature and not "an agency head or a governor behind closed doors."

Rep. Jonathan Paton, R-Tucson, agreed.

"We're not being given the power we deserve to have to set policy in the state," Paton said. "And we're disenfranchising our constituents in the process."

That new rule would require each automobile manufacturer to reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions from total sales in the state starting with the 2012 model year. Some vehicles which could not meet the 37 percent reduction by 2016 could still be available in Arizona as long as that manufacturer sold sufficient other models with greater greenhouse gas reductions.

The rule, though, could not take effect until the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency gives California permission to adopt its own standards. California sued after the EPA refused; Arizona, whose rules piggy-back on the California regulations, has joined that lawsuit.

HB 2017 is aimed at more than the new vehicle emission rules. It also would short-circuit current efforts by ADEQ to enact new "cap and trade" greenhouse gas regulations on utilities and other industrial polluters.

These rules would set absolute limits on total emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases, either on a state or regional level. Companies that more than met those standards would be able to sell their excess right to pollute to other firms.

Hamer said individual states should not be enacting their own greenhouse gas emission rules, saying there should be a single federal standard. But Hamer, under questioning, also said his organization and its member utilities would oppose federal legislation that would increase the cost of doing business, including the cost of producing electricity.

Instead, he said, Congress should enact tax incentives and credits to encourage companies to reduce pollution.