Finally -- someone who isn't in the lap of big oil

Kudos to Governor Napolitano for taking action on this issue. Emission standards have not been raised since the 1980s, and national legislature is too afraid of cutting off oil interests and vehicle manufacturing firms to act. Napolitano took the back door on this and did the right thing. The whole "more expensive car" business is nothing more than a tactic to anger people. A thousand dollars difference in initial price is made up in three years if the car is only 3 mpg more efficient. People don't even realize...she's saving them money now, and all of us money in the long run.

Napolitano Defends Emissions Order

PHOENIX — Gov. Janet Napolitano is defending her decision to bypass the Legislature and instead order imposition of new carbon-dioxide-emission standards for vehicles sold in Arizona.

Napolitano said Friday the changes she wants certainly could go to the Legislature. But she said state law also backs her power to simply direct Steve Owens, director of the state Department of Environmental Quality, to adopt a rule doing the same thing.

"I'm very respectful of the Legislature," she said.

"But we can also do it by rule,'' Napolitano continued. "We can do it now. We can do it more quickly."

Rep. Ray Barnes, R-Phoenix, acknowledged action by executive order and rule may be quicker than amending state law. But Barnes, who chairs the House Environment Committee, said he doubts Napolitano actually has legal authority to impose new standards absent legislative blessing.

The ADEQ says state laws let it regulate various air contaminants in motor-vehicle exhaust, including smoke, vapors, sulfuric acid mists and radioactive materials. That list also includes gases and "carbon," which the agency contends covers carbon dioxide even though that chemically distinct compound is not listed in statutes as a pollutant.

Senate Majority Leader Thayer Verschoor, R-Gilbert, said even if the law allows the governor to do what she wants, such a major change in state policy — one that will result in more expensive cars and trucks — should be debated and reviewed by the elected representatives of Arizona voters.