The Policy of Californias South Coast Air - Essay Example

 I. United States always pride itself a nation with a long standing tradition of policy activism and innovation that is usually hatched at state level. One of the policy problems that have been the subject of policy innovation at a state level which the United States Federal government lags behind or is in disregard is the issue of climate change (GAO Report, 2005). If there is an issue that now confronts not only the United States and the rest of the world, it is the urgent environmental problem of climate change that poses a great threat to our lives, property and way of living. “Yet, up to now, our national government has failed to respond with initiatives appropriate to what looms ahead (Aulisi et al., 2007).” Despite the complacent stance of the Federal government on the issue of climate change, there are however many states in the U.S. who took a more aggressive and innovative policy in implementing greenhouse emission controls. As an example we will take the case of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and the California vehicle emission standards. The California vehicle emission standards require a limitation on the amount of pollutants that an automobile releases in the atmosphere. This also applied to other powered vehicles that include industry, small equipments (such as lawn mowers and diesel generators) and power plants where their greenhouse emission is also strictly regulated. The Federal Government of the United States regulates the emission standards of all carbon emitting motors through its agency named Environmental Protection Agency. The state of California however has a permission to implement a more stringent regulatory emission standards compared to the Federal Government’s regulatory standard. The regulatory rules are crafted by the California Air Reserve Board or “CARB”. The effect of this policy innovation in the state of California is that the automobile manufacturers must meet this standard for them to sell its automobile fleet in California. This policy has been found to be effective that it was adopted by 16 other states in the mid of 2009. Notwithstanding, this policy innovation of the state of California had faced court litigation which includes the diesel ban policy where the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that diesel fueled vehicles should be sold in the state of California which was previously banned (Osenga, 2004). It was a four year court challenge that “resulted from the California’s South Coast Air Quality Management District’s (SCAQMD) Fleet rules that required various public and private operators of fleets of 15 or more vehicles in the SCAQMD basin (Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Orange and Riverside) to purchase alternative fuel vehicles or certain cleaner fuel vehicles authorized under the California’s emission standards program (Osenga, 2004). The RGCI or the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative is an initiative by the states in Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic part of the United States (includes Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont) who committed to reduce carbon emissions from the power sector by capping it to 10 percent by 2010. It is a carbon cap and trade program whose proceeds from its emission permit auctioning will be used to promote energy conservation and use of renewable program (Anon., 2007). II. Which policy is more effective? The California vehicle emission standards whose rule and regulations are set by the California Air Reserve Board or “CARB” is more effective and responsive to pressing issues of pollution and climate change in the short term. The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative however is more effective for a longer term solution of the Greenhouse problem as it caps emission and has a component of raising funds to increase the use of renewable energy which intends to replace the carbon emitting power plants. For a more effective policy implementation of addressing the carbon emission and climate change, the combination of the two is more desirable and effective. The California emission regulation address the urgent problem of carbon emitting vehicles today while RGCI addresses the problem in the long run by capping the emission and funding the alternative source of a clean and renewable energy source. The Environment Protection Agency should adopt both polices at a Federal level. As of today however, it adopts a reactionary and conservative outlook cautioning without recognizing the urgency of addressing environmental issue. It is anxious that such policy implementation should be implemented reasonably and be considerate of the costs involve (Litz and Blanco, 2010). III. Which approach is more likely to deliver the intended outcome at the lower cost? The California vehicle emission standards through the California Air Reserve Board or “CARB” is more likely to deliver the intended outcome at a lower cost in the short run. It immediately addresses the carbon emission problem today. It may be initially costly to manufacturers and end users but it will prove to be more cost efficient in the long term as we lower greenhouse emission that damages the environment. It is recommended that such policy should be complemented with a long term program such as RCGI which seeks to find an alternative clean and renewable source of energy in the future. IV. Is either approach fair and equitable? Both approach is fair and equitable. But the California vehicle emission standards is more responsive to the pressing environment issue that precipitated climate change by excessive greenhouse emission today. RGCI is gradual and more conservative but it has a proactive policy component of intending to have a clean and renewable energy source in the future by using the funds generated by its carbon trading permit. The climate change problem and excessive carbon emission however needs a holistic policy implementation approach for the issue to be addressed effectively both in the short run and in the long term. REFERENCES: Anon., (2007) THE COMPACT CLAUSE AND THE REGIONAL GREENHOUSE GAS INITIATIVE. Harvard Law Review. Vol. 120 Issue 7, p1958-1979, 22p Andrew Aulisi, John Larsen, Jonathan Pershing, Paul Posner (2007). Climate Policy in the State Laboratory: How States Influence Federal Regulation and the Implications for U.S. Climate Change: Federal Reports on Climate Change Funding Should Be Clearer and More Complete: GAO-05-46. GAO Reports, 9/26/2005, p1, 52p, 8 Franz Litz and Nicholas Bianco (2010). What Are Limits on EPA? Clean Air Act Holds Answers. World Resource Institute. Online. Availabe at http://www.wri.org/stories/2010/11/what-are-limits-epa-clean-air-act-holds-answers. retrieved on September 19, 2011. Policy. World Resource Institute. Online. Availabe at http://www.wri.org/publication/climate-policy-in-the-state-laboratory. retrieved on September 19, 2011. Osenga, Mike (2004). Diesel's Day In Court. Automotive Industries, Vol. 184 Issue 6, p44-45 Read More