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Bush calls for plan to reduce gas use

President Bush, Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, right, and EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson walk to the White House Rose Garden on Monday. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Steven Mufson and Michael A. Fletcher Washington Post
President Bush, Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, right, and EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson walk to the White House Rose Garden on Monday. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)

WASHINGTON – With gasoline prices spiraling to record highs and a recent Supreme Court ruling requiring executive action to restrict global warming gases, President Bush on Monday ordered four federal agencies to draw up regulations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks by the end of his administration.

But Democrats, environmentalists and some energy experts said the president was simply delaying measures that he has the power to impose now.

During a brief event at the White House, Bush said he was asking for rules to “cut gasoline consumption and greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles.” The regulations, he said, should be consistent with his previously announced plan to reduce projected gasoline consumption by 20 percent over the next decade.

“We’re taking action by taking the first steps toward rules that will make our economy stronger, our environment cleaner and our nation more secure,” Bush said.

Critics responded that the announcement fell short of what was needed at a time when gasoline prices are soaring, the automobile industry is in turmoil and Congress is trying to raise fuel efficiency standards. They also noted that Bush had shifted the policy focus to the Environmental Protection Agency, which has a lengthy rulemaking process, and away from the Transportation Department, which sets corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards.

“In effect, the president asked his agency heads to share ideas and come up with a plan that is due three weeks before he leaves office,” said Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., chairman of the new House select committee on climate change.

The Sierra Club’s executive director, Carl Pope, said Bush has “the clear authority” to raise CAFE standards, which haven’t been changed in two decades. “He can and should act immediately to do so,” Pope said.

Under Bush’s plan, the federal departments of Agriculture, Energy and Transportation will work with the EPA to develop a regulatory structure to lower vehicle emissions. “This is a complicated legal and technical matter, and it’s going to take time to fully resolve,” Bush said.

EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson said in a conference call that the administration will still prefer legislation mandating more efficient cars and trucks. In his State of the Union address in January, Bush called for raising fuel efficiency standards by about 4 percent a year for the next 10 years, but the administration has not introduced legislation to do so. Two Senate measures that would have a similar effect have attracted widespread support.

Bush’s announcement came more than a month after the Supreme Court admonished his administration for failing to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks. The court said the Clean Air Act gives the EPA the responsibility to regulate carbon dioxide and other gases that scientists say contribute to global warming.