Federal Law Preempts California’s Attempt To Regulate Global Warming

Originally published in the Washington Legal Foundation, March 11, 2005

In September 2004, California’s Air Resources Board (CARB) adopted regulations imposing limits on carbon dioxide emissions from motor vehicles. The regulations have been challenged in federal court by more than a dozen auto dealers and the automobile manufacturing industry. This reviews the argument that the California regulations are preempted by the federal fuel economy law and concludes that the California rules are, indeed, preempted, on both an express and implied basis.

The federal motor vehicle fuel economy program is authorized by federal law, 49 U.S.C. § 32901 et seq. This program is administered by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), a unit of the U.S. Department of Transportation, which has administered fuel economy standards for light duty motor vehicles for more than two decades. These standards establish average fuel economy levels that must be met by each vehicle