California and 16 other states -- including New York, New Jersey and Connecticut -- have been denied the right to regulate their own CO2 emissions by the Environmental Protection Agency.

According to the New York Times, the decision marks the first time that the EPA has ever denied California a Clean Air Act waiver, which allows the state to enact its own pollution regulations beyond federal requirements.

The EPA's administrator, Stephen Johnson, defended the EPA's position by stating that "the proposed California rules were pre-empted by federal authority and made moot by the energy bill signed into law by President Bush." Johnson also asserted that the administration is "moving forward with a clear national solution, not a confusing patchwork of state rules."

In 2004, California proposed regulations that would have required a 30 percent decrease in carbon-dioxide emissions from automobiles and trucks by 2016. This would have been equivalent to a 43 mile per gallon standard for cars and light trucks and a 27.5 mile per gallon standard for trucks and SUV's. However they are required under the Clean Air Act to be granted permission to enforce these rules. Sixteen other states indicated they would have adopted California's standards if the waiver were granted.

California and some of the other 16 states have vowed to sue the EPA in federal court to reverse the decision, arguing the EPA has no scientific or legal basis to deny the waiver.