Obama today announced that individual states will be allowed to impose their own MPG standards and other environmental standards. The Bush administration opposed this for many years. Automobile companies objected because they say they cannot afford to make different kinds of cars for different states. Obviously they cannot, therefore they will have to make all cars to meet the state with the highest standard, which happens to be California, which is also the largest state with the biggest car market.
What this means, in effect, is that automobile gas mileage standards will now be decided in Sacremento by a Republican governor. Schwarzenegger strongly favors higher MPG standards, as well as plug-in hybrids and other new technology. His term ends in 2011, giving him plenty of time to implement new standards in the present climate of accelerated political change and rapid decision making. This will take the heat off of Obama and leave the Repubicans little to complain about. It is increasingly clear to Obama is a skilled politician. Instead of picking a fight over this issue, he made it the responsibility of a leading Republican. What's more, Schwarzenegger may gain national stature and credit, but he cannot run for president, so he is no rival to Obama. California may be in a position to set other efficiency standards, even for devices that could be manufactured differently for different states, such as ceiling fans. California is such a large market that every manufacturer has to sell to it, and once you go to the trouble to develop a high performance ceiling fan, you might as well sell it everywhere. - Jed
