Earlier this year, the Environmental Protection Agency rejected a request by the California government to allow a state-wide car emissions standard below the national standard. The EPA made the rejection - they alleged - on the grounds that a streamlined, national regulation would be easier to enforce. The agency also feared that such an action in a large consumer market like California would have forced the entire auto industry to make cars at the efficiency levels

Now, sixty House Representatives have backed a bill that would allow states to make their own regulations for car emissions. California's legislation would be fast tracked and the other 16 states that wish to follow suit could do so. These other states are: Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Maryland, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont and Washington.

Said Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT) to Reuters of his motivation for cosponsoring the bill: "The Environmental Protection Agency's decision defied the science, defied the states and defied common sense."