U.S. District Judge Anthony Ishii of Fresno ruled on Wednesday the California has the right to regulate tail pipe emissions of greenhouse gases.

As most here probably know, California was the first state to legislate greenhouse gas emissions from cars, a law that has been modeled in similar form by 16 other states across the country. In September Vermont federal judge William Sessions III rejected automakers assertion that a 30% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions wasn’t doable or that federal laws held sway over state rules.

In April the US Supreme Court ruled that, contrary to claims from the Bush administration, the Environmental Protection Agency has the authority to regulate vehicle emissions of greenhouse gases.

Despite the ruling yesterday, the California law can’t be enforced without a waiver from the EPA allowing the state emission requirements to exceed federal standards. Something California has been waiting for now for two years.

The state has filed suit against the EPA to force it to act, which administrator Steven Johnson says it will do by the end of the year. 

The road has been cleared, and the only obstacle now rests in Washington.

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