Brewer questions fuel-efficiency rules

Gov. Jan Brewer has ordered a review of regulations pushed through two years ago by then-Gov. Janet Napolitano to impose "greenhouse gas" emissions standards on new cars and trucks sold in Arizona.

Brewer stopped short of directing the Department of Environmental Quality to rescind the rules. But she said she questions the Napolitano administration's conclusion that the higher prices on more fuel-efficient vehicles would be manageable.

"With the economy the way it is and the expense of the cars that would need to be purchased by the people of Arizona, it's just not realistic," she said.

While Brewer is seeking more information on vehicle emissions standards, she already has decided Arizona won't participate in a regional "cap and trade" system for industrial emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases many scientists say cause global climate change. There, she said, the conclusion already is clear: It will put a financial hardship on Arizonans who will have to pay more for their electricity.

Further, Brewer said she questions many of the assumptions about the assertion human activities are causing massive changes in the environment.

"At this point in time I'm sure there is some cause," she said. "I don't believe it is to the extreme of what some people would like us to believe."

But Brewer said she is not pulling Arizona out of the Western Climate Initiative, composed of the governors of several western states and Canadian provinces, which already has been crafting cap-and-trade standards. She said while she doesn't intend to have Arizona comply with what whatever the group adopts, it makes sense to continue to monitor what it is doing.

"I have said from the very beginning that if I'm not at the table we're going to be on the menu," Brewer said. "We're just insisting on a menu that includes alternatives to cap and trade."

The essence of a "cap and trade" system starts with an inventory of how much greenhouse gas each source is emitting and determining how much needs to be cut. Companies that are unable to meet reduction standards would be entitled to purchase pollution credits from other firms who cut emissions more than the target.

The question of whether Brewer ultimately decides to scrap the vehicle emissions standards is likely to turn on cost.

During hearings in 2008, economists hired by vehicle manufacturers argued that the rules would add at least $6,000 to the cost of new cars and light trucks, while net savings from things like increased fuel efficiency was estimated at less than $1,000.

But state Department of Environmental Qualify representatives disputed those claims, citing figures from the California Air Resources Board that put the added cost at less than $1,100, with savings from lower gasoline use and maintenance approaching $3,000.

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