Washington – President Bush, acting under a Supreme Court mandate, ordered Cabinet members Monday to come up with a method for regulating vehicle emissions that contribute to global warming.
Bush gave the Environmental Protection Agency until the end of 2008, three weeks before he leaves office, to craft a plan – a timeline that EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson said is shorter than it usually takes his agency to make rules.
The new rules could include tougher vehicle-mileage standards.
“This is a complicated legal and technical matter,” Bush said at the White House. “And it’s going to take time to fully resolve.”
Bush’s announcement came as gasoline prices set a U.S. record. Monday’s average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline was $3.07.
White House spokesman Tony Snow acknowledged that the announcement would have no “immediate effect” on prices.
Last month, the Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, ordered the EPA to regulate motor-vehicle emissions as pollutants under the Clean Air Act.
That ruling prompted Bush’s Oval Office huddle Monday with officials from the EPA and the departments of Energy, Transportation and Agriculture before his announcement.
The current goal is a draft proposal by fall, which then would be subjected to a public comment and review process.
Johnson said there are two fundamental ways to control emissions: mileage standards that reduce usage and rules that force wider use of less-polluting fuel.
“It just seems logical that we would pursue both of those,” said Johnson, who couched the announcement as “the first regulatory step to address greenhouse gas emissions from cars.”
Democratic Rep. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, chairman of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, welcomed Bush’s announcement but criticized the schedule.
“After six years of hemming and hawing on setting fuel-economy standards, the president has suddenly discovered the regulatory powers he has had all along,” he said.
Lawmakers have wrestled with emissions and vehicle mileage legislation for several years.
A proposal in the Senate calls for an average standard of 35 miles per gallon for cars and light trucks.
