Department of Transportation secretary Mary Peters personally directed a lobbying effort to scuttle California's first-in-the-nation limits on greenhouse gases from cars and trucks--all with White House approval. E-mail messages obtained by Congress show that Peters worked closely with the top opponents in Congress to California's emissions law and sought out governors from auto-producing states to orchestrate a campaign that would oppose California's request that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to allow the new rules to go into effect. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, posted the e-mails on the committee's Web site. In response, the Department of Transportation issued a statement: "Our efforts to inform elected officials about the petition before EPA were legal, appropriate and consistent with our long-held position on this issue." It went on: "For over 30 years, the Department has supported a single, national fuel economy standard as part of our effort to save fuel, ensure safety, preserve the environment and protect the economy."
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
