Should the Government Grant Individual States the Right to Waiver National Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) Standards? Meave Gagler and Caitlin MacDougall Chemistry 127: The Art of Negotiation, Beloit College Abstract The U.S. government is currently receiving resistance from the state of California against a bill passed in December, 2007, which mandates a Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standard for every state in the nation. California would like to make their CAFE standards higher than the national standard because they experience more greenhouse gas emissions due to their state’s size and population. Both California and the Federal Government share the common interest of reducing greenhouse gases, keeping their citizens healthy and happy, and reducing the country’s dependence on foreign oil, but California believes their CAFE standard would be more efficient in curbing the effects of greenhouse gases, whereas the EPA is concerned about condoning a “patchwork” of standards that would prove chaotic. With the help of a Supreme Court Justice as a mediator, the two parties could agree on how to negotiate the overarching question, that is, should the Federal Government grant individual states the right to waiver national CAFE standards? Introduction Recently, with growing concern over the future of our environment in light of global warming statistics, politicians are making an effort to promote fuel-efficient strategies for curbing greenhouse gas emissions. On December 19, 2007, the House of Representatives passed the Energy Independence and Security Act that would raise Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. A CAFE standard is the sales weighted average fuel economy expressed in miles per gallon (mpg) of a certain car model with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of 8,500 lbs or less (NHTSA, 2008). The new law requires auto manufacturers to average their vehicles to 35 mpg by 2020, a 40% increase since the last regulated requirement. The bill does not deny the right for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to let states such as California set their own standards for emissions from vehicle tailpipes, but the EPA recently denied California’s request to raise their CAFE standards to 30 mpg by Other states like New York have expressed a desire to coincide their standards with those of California because they believe that the proposed national CAFE standards are so minimal that they will produce only marginal effects, particularly in states with heavy traffic. The U.S. Government, however, is unwilling to put pressure on car manufacturers with whom they have lobbying interests and insist that a patchwork of state standards would be chaotic. Furthermore, the EPA refuses to release information regarding their reasoning for denying the waiver rights. California Attorney General Edmund Brown Jr. has threatened that he, as well as California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, will sue the EPA “at the earliest possible moment” (Enews USA, 2008). References ABC News. Technology Review. “The New Cafe Standards”. Retrieved February 3, &page= &page=1 Enews. “EPA Denies California GHG Vehicles Emission Rule Waiver. Retrieved February 5, ghg-vehicles.html. ghg-vehicles.html Kaufman, Marc. “Decline in Snowpack Is Blamed On Warming”. The Washington Post. Retrieved February 3, dyn/content/article/2008/01/31/AR html. dyn/content/article/2008/01/31/AR html National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Website. “CAFE Overview: Frequently Asked Questions”. Retrieved February 3, The People Involved California: The state’s representatives should be present for the negotiation EPA: The Environmental Protection Agency, who has denied California waiver rights, should be present. Supreme Court Justice: A judge should be the mediator to determine whether California has extenuating circumstances that would require different CAFE standards than those that are Federally mandated. Interests: While both the state of California and the U.S. Government are interested in reducing the effects of global warming by minimizing greenhouse gas emissions, California is interested in reducing their emissions by 30 percent by the year 2016 and maintaining waiver rights that the EPA has granted them since the 1970s. Additionally, California is concerned with their water supply, which has been diminished because of global warming, which rapidly melts the west’s snowpacks (The Washington Post, 2008). And at the base, this becomes an issue of states’ rights to govern themselves vs. Federal authority. Although the EPA has withheld information concerning their decision to deny California’s waiver, they have publicly objected to what they believe is a chaotic system in which each state has their own standards. With Federal CAFE standards, states would be required to increase their fuel-economy standard by 40 percent to 35 mpg by 2020 (ABC News, 2008). Options -Create a panel of experts, most likely scientists, to determine if California actually has “extenuating circumstances” that would warrant waiver rights -Set requirements on automobile manufacturers in California (i.e. to make filters on the tailpipes of cars) so that cars can meet Federal CAFE standards and still emit cleaner emissions -Avoid a “patchwork” of 50 standards by having a non-partisan professional panel establish specific groups of states according to their demographics, geography and greenhouse gas emissions Objective Criteria -algorithm for CAFE standard (see Figure 1) -projected greenhouse gas emissions with Federally regulated standard -projected greenhouse gas emissions with California standard -greenhouse gas emissions in each state -geographical and demographic analysis of traffic smog in particular regions Figure 1: Equation used to determine a fleet’s corporate average fuel economy (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. “CAFE Overview.”