California to sue U.S. for denying emissions waiver

Reuters 20 Dec 07;

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said on Thursday that he would sue the U.S. government for not granting a waiver that would allow his state to enforce new standards on motor vehicle emissions.

California needs the waiver from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to implement a state law requiring automakers to cut tailpipe carbon dioxide emissions by 25 percent on 2009 model cars.

Sixteen other states either have adopted or are considering rules similar to California's standard.

"I am extremely disappointed by EPA's decision to block the will of millions of people in California and 16 other states who want us to take tough action against global warming," Schwarzenegger said in a statement.

"I have no doubt that we will prevail because the law, science, and the public's demand for leadership are on our side," Schwarzenegger said.

On Wednesday, the Bush administration announced that the EPA would not grant the waiver because an energy bill signed hours earlier makes unnecessary further action on carbon dioxide emissions from vehicles.

The EPA found that the national law, which raises automobile fuel standards by 40 percent by 2020, was a "better approach" than a "patchwork" of state rules.

(Reporting by Amanda Beck; editing by Patricia Zengerle)

Read more!

Greece must act to replenish fish stocks: Greenpeace

Karolos Grohmann Reuters 20 Dec 07;

ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece should immediately set up marine reserves to replenish depleted fish stocks due to overfishing or face a collapse of the industry, Greenpeace said on Thursday.

The environmental group's call, which came as the EU announced lower-than-expected cuts for 2008 catch quotas, said stocks in the Aegean and Ionian seas had fallen dramatically in recent years.

"We will constantly see a drop in catches and size and graver problems lie ahead," Greenpeace oceans campaigner Sofia Tsenikli said. "The government must immediately impose marine reserves where fishing will be prohibited to allow stocks to recover."

EU countries on Wednesday struck a deal for 2008 catch quotas that watered down proposals for the preservation of species whose stocks are at precariously low levels, angering environmental groups.

Greece has among the largest fishing fleets in the EU by numbers with 18,040 registered vessels in 2006, some 2,500 fewer boats than in 1998. Most of the fleet is small, coastal fishing vessels.

In 2006 Greeks fished about 90,000 tonnes, about half the amount compared to 1994, mainly due to depleted stocks. The fish were also on average smaller in size.

More than a decade of heavy fishing by big trawlers and lack of a national strategy have led to the decline, marked by dips of bluefin tuna, mullet and hake, the National Fishermen's Union (SAE) said.

By the end of this year Greece's agriculture ministry must present proposals for areas where some forms of fishing will be banned in line with the EU's Mediterranean fishing regulation, but so far has not revealed its plans.

(Writing by Karolos Grohmann, Editing by Michael Kahn)

Read more!

Plant cover in Haiti at two percent: UN official

Yahoo News 20 Dec 07;

Deforestation in Haiti, where trees and bushes are routinely felled for cooking fuel, is at crisis level, with just two-percent plant cover now, the UN warned Thursday.

"There is a real urgency, and measures need to be taken ... plant cover is down to about two percent," UN Development Program official in Haiti, Joel Boutroue, said.

Most people in Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, live on less than two dollars a day, and they use wood for fires to cook. The result has been widespread deforestation and erosion.

Boutroue pressed the Haitian government and international groups to act quickly to foster re-forestation and runoff control programs, without which he said he feared Haiti could sink even further into poverty.

Read more!

More Singaporeans choosing high-end gifts this holiday season

Channel NewsAsia 20 Dec 07;

SINGAPORE : More Singaporeans are choosing high-end limited edition presents this holiday season, thanks to a good economy and better bonuses.

At a Noel Gifts' warehouse, workers are busy preparing hampers and other gifts to meet rising demand.

Noel said it's getting 40% more orders than the previous year.

But instead of the regular hampers of sweets and cookies, well-travelled Singaporeans these days want something more.

Items on their shopping lists include things like whiskey jam, champagne mustard and limited edition wines.

"Knick-knacks like mugs and photo frames, useless stationeries as well as retro items, those are out. Retro is passé," said Winnie Tan, General Manager of Noel.

And it looks like this holiday season, a simple e-mail greeting card may just not make the cut. - CNA /ls

Read more!

In the Netherlands: for a truly green Christmas, adopt a tree:

IOL.com 20 Dec 07;

Leusden, The Netherlands - Despite the icy cold and the gloomy sky, Daniella Kolman has come to pick up her very "own" Christmas tree, the one she adopted last year from an organic tree grower in this town in the centre of the Netherlands.

"Before, we always bought our Christmas tree in a pot and then my husband tried to plant it in the garden afterwards, but it died each time," said Kolman.

"So we said to each other 'How can we find an ecologically responsible Christmas tree?'" she said, stamping her feet from the cold at Leusden's Randijk organic tree lot.

"We thought about a plastic tree, but that is just as polluting, or we thought of not having a tree at all, but it's an important tradition, so we ended up adopting," she continued, as an employee got to work digging up her tree.

Come the New Year, Kolman, along with 1 000 other Dutch families, will return the tree for professional replanting in Leusden's sandy soil.

"We started the business five years ago," said Erwin Kooijman, who came up with the original idea. "We planted a few pine trees and when they got big, I thought, what a pity to cut them down after taking such good care of them."

"Little by little, I said to myself, maybe we could have them adopted," he said. "Now people call us from all over the Netherlands, and you should see how happy the children are when they come for 'their' Christmas tree, and how excited they get running between the rows to find it."

Grown in chemically-free fertiliser, without pesticides and certified organic, Randijk's pines remain a drop in the ocean, given the millions of commercially grown trees cut down each year, mostly in Scandinavia, and exported across Europe.

On top of being organic, the pines-for-adoption save on CO2 transport emissions.

"The advantage of our trees is that they're a local product, so the distances they travel are limited, as is the pollution they might cause as well as traffic congestion," said Ad Kooijman, Erwin's father.

Their two-hectare business, which also produces organic bamboo, has seen adoptions increase 10-fold in the last two years. "We started small in 2005, selling 120 trees, this year we sold 1 000," said Kooijman junior.

Adoption costs, payable each year, are between 15 and 25 euros depending on height, much the same as local market prices, with an added five-euro deposit to encourage returns.

"There is a lot of interest and enthusiasm for these kind of things, because they are socially and ecologically responsible as well as fun," Jasper Vink, spokesperson for Biologica, a Dutch organic growers association, told reporters.

"Normally trees are uselessly thrown away or burned after Christmas," he said.

For Kolman, the reunion with her tree, number 630, is a warm one, despite the near freezing temperatures.

"And what's more," she said, happily sliding the tree into her car boot, "it didn't even lose a single pine needle in my living room last year".

Read more!

New butterfly species found in the Andes

Paul Eccleston, Telegraph 19 Dec 07;

A new species of butterfly has been found during an expedition to an unexplored region of the high Andes of South America.

The coffee-brown butterfly was found by scientist Blanca Huertas, who is butterfly curator at the Natural History Museum.

Because of the difficulty of the terrain Huertas and her team and their equipment were dropped by helicopter on to an isolated peak at 3,000 metres above sea level.

It was the first time people have explored the highest elevations of the 100 kilometre-long mountain range in Colombia's Serranía de los Yariguíes. and led to it being designated a national park by the Colombian government.

The butterfly was named Idioneurula donegani in honour of Thomas Donegan, project director of Evaluation of Biodiversity in the Andes (EBA) who pioneered the expeditions.

The medium-sized butterfly has eyespots on its hindwings and resembles three other species of Idioneurula butterflies with yellow and orange outlines on the wings.

It lives in the high elevation 'paramo' forests of Colombia, characterised by ferns, orchids, palms and grasses and is an endemic species of the Yariguíes mountains in Colombia, which means it is not found anywhere else in the world.

The new species was found at two different locations at the top of the mountain range and has been recommended for IUCN categorisation as vulnerable.

Blanca Huertas,said: 'This is an amazing discovery. Butterflies are a diverse group of insects with almost 20,000 known species, 40 per cent of which are in South America. We have been to almost every corner of the world and although some remote parts of the Neotropical region remain unexplored, we only occasionally discover a new species.'

Butterflies found during the expedition were examined and compared to specimens held in the Natural History Museum's collections, which include more than 7,000 species of butterflies from South America. Molecular analysis of DNA collected from the butterflies in the field revealed that I. donegani is a separate species.

'New finds like this encourage us to keep exploring the world', said Huertas.

'We have only recently explored the mountain where we found I. donegani. Other remote and unexplored mountains like the Yariguíes could have other species that remain undiscovered. We are privileged at the Natural History Museum to have one of the largest butterfly collections in the world. We look after 28m insects here, which include around 3m butterflies.'

The paper describing the new species was published this month in the prestigious international journal Zootaxa and is available online.

Read more!

San Francisco Bay spill costs to exceed $61m federal limit

Erica Werner, Associated Press Yahoo News 18 Dec 07;

Clean-up costs for last month's oil spill in San Francisco Bay are on track to exceed the $61 million federal insurance liability limit, the U.S. Coast Guard said Tuesday.

As of last Saturday, $54.7 million has been spent to respond to last month's 58,000-gallon spill, with clean-up costs averaging about $770,000 per day, the agency said.

The cost of clean-up is expected to surpass the $61 million liability cap on insurance payments by the owner of the Cosco Busan, the cargo ship that sideswiped the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in heavy fog on Nov. 7.

After testifying to a Senate subcommittee Tuesday, Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thad Allen said the agency and the Justice Department were discussing how to proceed after that limit is reached.

In the wake of the spill, Sens. Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein of California have introduced legislation to raise the insurance liability limits set by the Oil Pollution Act of 1990.

Under current law, the liability cap would be lifted if gross negligence were found in the accident. Other ways also can be found for the so-called responsible party — in this case Regal Stone Ltd._ to pay above the liability limit.

"No one should think that Regal Stone is going to do anything other than meet its legal responsibilities," said company spokesman Jim Lawrence.

Read more!

South Korean oil spill worse than estimated

Yahoo News 20 Dec 07;

Nearly 80,000 barrels of oil were spilled from a punctured supertanker off South Korea's western coast earlier this month — about 20 percent more than previous estimates, an official said Thursday.

Experts calculated the size of the spill after the Hebei Spirit arrived at a South Korean port Tuesday — 11 days after it was slammed by a wayward crane-carrying vessel — by determining how much oil the ship still contained, said Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry official Kim Jung-seok.

The Hong Kong-registered tanker, which initially carried 1.9 million barrels of oil, leaked the equivalent of 78,920 barrels into the water, Kim said.

That places the spill at nearly a third the size of the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster that sent 260,000 barrels of oil into Alaska's Prince William Sound.

The spill — some 2 1/2 times bigger than South Korea's worst previous spill in 1995 — has severely jeopardized the ecosystem and spoiled hundreds of seafood farms in the area, which is also a prime tourism attraction.

Tens of thousands of coast guard officers, soldiers, residents and volunteer workers have been mobilized to clean up the muck. Some 37,000 people were still working Thursday with 845 ships and 10 helicopters, said Coast Guard spokesman Lee Won-yeol.

"We don't know until when we have to continue the cleanup work but believe we'll soon enter the final stage," he said.

Read more!

Conservation of green turtle nesting sites show they can recover: study

Study shows that sea turtles can recover
mongabay.com, 18 Dec 07;

Conservation of sea turtle nesting sites is paying off for the endangered reptiles, reports a new study published this week in the journal Global Ecology and Biogeography.

A team of researchers led researchers from IUCN and Conservation International found that green turtle (Chelonia mydas) nesting on four beaches in the Pacific and two beaches in the Atlantic have increased by an four to fourteen percent annually over the past two to three decades as a result of beach protection efforts.

"These results should be celebrated," said Milani Chaloupka, lead author and vice chair of the IUCN Marine Turtle Specialist Group. "They demonstrate that green turtle populations and presumably the green turtles ecosystem roles can be recovered in spite of drastic population declines in the past."

"This analysis shines a light of hope on marine conservation efforts for endangered species and for biological diversity as a whole," said Sebastian Troang, co-author, MTSG member, and senior director of regional marine strategies at Conservation International. "Ambitious strategies including long-term protection of habitats and reduction of survival threats are working, and endangered species can be recovered."

Despite the positive results, the researchers caution that sea turtles have not escaped rough seas yet, noting that hunting of turtles and poaching of eggs are still problems in some of the studied sites, including Tortuguero on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica.

"In Tortuguero, the recovering green turtle population attracts millions of dollars in tourism revenue each year for the local community as tourists come to watch the turtles lay their eggs," said David Godfrey, MTSG member and executive director of the Caribbean Conservation Corporation. "Unfortunately, these same turtles are still hunted by the thousands when they swim to Nicaraguan waters in search of seagrass, so conservation efforts must continue."

CITATION: Milani Chaloupka et al (2007). Encouraging outlook for recovery of a once severely exploited marine megaherbivore. Global Ecology and Biogeography, Dec 2007. DOI: 10.1111/j.1466-8238.2007.00367.x

Read more!

Guyana's sea defence: mangroves to get special attention

$5b sea defence pact signed-mangroves to get special attention
Starbroek News 20 Dec 07;

Expensive structures were not always necessary and in some instances, earthen embankments would suffice.

The European Union (EU) is pumping an additional $5 billion into Guyana's sea defences with special emphasis on shoring up the mangrove bulwark and it has also underlined the importance of a sector policy.

Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh and Head of the EU Delegation Ambassador Geert Heikens signed the agreement for the $5 billion sea defence project yesterday. Earlier this year, in March, a similar agreement worth 900,000 euros had been signed.

The new agreement, Heikens pointed out in brief remarks, provides for preventative maintenance and reconstruction as the main components as well as the institutional capacity building components, including the expansion of the already established Shore Zone Management System.

He said the EU was happy to assist Guyana in the long-term development of the sea defence sector.

Mangroves, which are the first line of sea defence are an additional element being catered for under the programme. Head of the Sea and River Defence Division of the Public Works Ministry George Howard, who was on hand for the signing, explained that the financial assistance will cover reconstruction and rehabilitation of Sea Defence works in Ann's Grove and Clonbrook in Region Four and Number 66 Village in Region Six. Work will also be done on the sea defence in Regions Two and Three, including Wakenaam, Howard said.

He pointed out too that the division was also in the process of designing sea defences for Leguan, for which local funds were being used.

In the area of institutional capacity building, he explained that consultants were already here and have started with the design of programmes.

Regarding the mangrove management programme, Howard said the department intended to improve this. He said there were some areas where this would be sufficient in terms of defence from sea encroachment. He noted that expensive structures were not always necessary and in some instances, earthen embankments would suffice.

However, the re-planting and maintenance of mangroves could cost as much as US$3.8 million per kilometre.

In this regard, he said that a public education programme would be designed to sensitize people on the use of mangroves and their role in ensuring that they are not destroyed.

He acknowledged that some "stepping-up" would have to be done in terms of maintenance management of sea defences.

The Finance Minister in expressing thanks to the EU underscored the importance of the emphasis being placed on the sector against the background of the challenges countries like Guyana face in the wake of climate change.

"We have had to wrestle with the challenges of living below sea level and it has not been an easy battle given the reality of Guyana's topography," he said.

He explained that the EU funds will augment resources provided from the local budget to enhance the capacity of the sea defence.

An EU statement said the backlog of rehabilitation of the severely deteriorated sea defence was estimated at about 20 years, and the present state of the sea defence was considered critical.

It said the overall strategic objective of the programme will be the improvement of the living conditions of the population by increased confidence against inundation by sea water.

Heikens said the EU will place special emphasis on assisting government in its efforts to develop a Sea Defence Sector policy, for which terms of reference have already been finalised. "A sector policy will not only provide the basis required to ensure adequate levels of funding for preventative maintenance, but will also provide for an integrated comprehensive approach under which co-ordinated and sustainable actions can take place," he said.

The European Development Fund is currently the only long-term active donor in the sea defence sector in Guyana.

Read more!

India's endangered elephants boosted by 'corridor' opening

Anil Penna Yahoo News 20 Dec 07;

An "elephant corridor" linking two forest reserves is being opened in southern India, giving the endangered animals unrestricted movement to feed and breed in the region, officials say.

More than 1,000 elephants are set to gain right of passage through the corridor linking the Edayargalli and Doddasampige reserves when land deeds are handed over to the Karnataka state forest department on Thursday.

India is home to an estimated 25,000 wild elephants, the most in Asia, but their numbers have been vastly depleted by poaching and habitat loss.

Encroachment on elephant turf by humans has also forced the animals to stray from their habitats and attack settlements in search of food.

"Securing these corridors is the only long-term solution for reducing the human-elephant conflict," said Vivek Menon, executive director of the Wildlife Trust of India.

The 25.5 acres (10 hectares) of land was bought by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) in 2005 for an unspecified sum to ensure the area is protected from human settlement.

The wildlife trust and the IFAW, which are partner organisations, currently hold the deeds.

Menon estimates that clashes between humans and elephants kill roughly 200 people and an equal number of the animals every year, aside from the crop damage caused by rampaging herds.

"Elephants are big nomads -- if you don't give them room to move from one habitat to another, the situation will only get worse," said Menon, an elephant biologist.

The handover of the deeds will mark the start of a two-day meeting of chief wildlife wardens from 10 states, animal rights activists and conservationists in Bangalore to discuss elephant protection measures.

The scale of the problem is highlighted by satellite imagery showing that between 1996 and 2000 villagers encroached on 691,000 acres of thick forest in the northeastern state of Assam, home to 5,000 elephants -- the most in India.

Thursday's land handover ceremony in Bangalore, the Karnataka state capital, marks the first time land has been bought by a private organisation and delivered to the government to protect elephant habitats.

In return for the land, forest rangers will maintain the corridor as a safe passage for elephants.

The corridor, which is two kilometres (1.25 miles) long and 0.5 km wide, links two forest areas cut off from each other by deforestation and agricultural land, the statement said.

A highway runs through the corridor connecting the human settlements but it has little traffic and officials say plans will be made to regulate the road to avoid hampering elephants' ability to move safely between the protected areas.

"Elephants are intelligent animals; they will go to the edge of the forest and wait for the traffic to pass before crossing over," said Menon.

The Wildlife Trust of India, the IFAW and other partners have also acquired part of a strip of land linking the Wayanad and Brahmagiri sanctuaries in Kerala that is threatened by human habitation.

Read more!

US govt rejects California bid for tough emissions standards

Yahoo News 20 Dec 07;

The United States government on Wednesday rejected a request by California for it to be allowed to introduce tough new vehicle emissions standards, dealing a blow to the state's hopes of slashing greenhouse gas levels over the next decade.

The Environmental Protection Agency said in a statement that after consideration of the requests by California it had found there were no "compelling and extraordinary conditions" to grant a waiver.

The EPA instead said legislation signed by President George W. Bush this week was a step towards a "clear national solution" towards curbing greenhouse gas emissions rather than a "confusing patchwork of state rules."

California passed legislation in 2002 requiring automakers to reduce vehicle emissions 30 percent by 2016. A total of 17 states had reportedly indicated they would adopt California's emissions levels.

However, for the law to take effect, California needed approval with a waiver from the EPA.

Analysts say the Bush administration is opposed to California's request because of fears of the effect it may have on the ailing US auto industry.

California officials responded to Wednesday's decision by vowing to press ahead with plans to sue the government.

"It is completely absurd to assert that California does not have a compelling need to fight global warming by curbing greenhouse gas emissions from cars," Attorney General Jerry Brown said.

"There is absolutely no legal justification for the Bush administration to deny this request - Governor Schwarzenegger and I are preparing to sue at the earliest possible moment."

Schwarzenegger vowed no let-up in California's fight to set it's own standards.

"It is disappointing that the federal government is standing in our way and ignoring the will of tens of millions of people across the nation," Schwarzenegger said in a statement.

"We will continue to fight this battle. California sued to compel the (EPA) to act on our waiver, and now we will sue to overturn today's decision and allow Californians to protect our environment."

Although Schwarzenegger applauded the federal energy bill signed by Bush, he said it did not go far enough.

"The energy bill does not reflect a vision, beyond 2020, to address climate change, while California's vehicle greenhouse gas standards are part of a carefully designed, comprehensive program to fight climate change through 2050," he said.

Schwarzenegger has made the environment a key issue of his tenure, signing a historic bill in September 2006 that saw the state become the first in the US to impose limits on global warming gases.

Under the plan, California will aim to slash the state's carbon dioxide emissions by 25 percent by the year 2020, a figure that Schwarzenegger has said is equivalent to removing 6.5 million vehicles from the road.

EPA denies Calif. greenhouse gas waiver
Ken Thomas and Erica Werner, Associated Press Yahoo News 20 Dec 07;

The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday slapped down California's bid for first-in-the-nation greenhouse gas limits on cars, trucks and SUVs, refusing the state a waiver that would have allowed those restrictions to take effect.

"The Bush administration is moving forward with a clear national solution — not a confusing patchwork of state rules," EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson told reporters on a conference call. "I believe this is a better approach than if individual states were to act alone."

The long-awaited decision amounted to a serious setback for California and at least 16 other states seeking the new car regulations to achieve their anti-global warming goals.

The tailpipe standards California adopted in 2004 would have forced automakers to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent in new cars and light trucks by 2016, with the cutbacks beginning in the 2009 model year.

Under the Clean Air Act, the state needed a federal waiver to implement the rules.

"It is disappointing that the federal government is standing in our way and ignoring the will of tens of millions of people across the nation," said Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. "California sued to compel the agency to act on our waiver, and now we will sue to overturn today's decision and allow Californians to protect our environment."

Twelve other states — Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington — have adopted the California emissions standards, and the governors of Arizona, Colorado, Florida and Utah have said they also plan to adopt them. The rules were also under consideration in Iowa.

With Wednesday's denial, those other states are also prevented from moving forward.

In explaining his decision, Johnson cited energy legislation approved by Congress and signed into law Wednesday by President Bush. The law requires automakers to achieve an industrywide average fuel efficiency for cars, SUVs and small trucks of 35 miles per gallon by 2020.

Johnson said Congress' approach would be better than a "partial state-by-state approach." He said California's law would have yielded a 33.8 mpg standard, but California Air Resources Board chair Mary Nichols said Johnson's math was "just wrong."

She said the California regulations would have resulted in a 36.8 miles per gallon average and would have taken effect sooner than the federal standards.

"EPA is now trying to hide behind the passage of (fuel economy) legislation," Nichols said. "This is really unconscionable."

Environmentalists and Democratic lawmakers also denounced the decision. Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., who chairs the Senate's environment committee, said she'd question Johnson at a hearing. Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., chairman of the government oversight and reform committee in the House, vowed to investigate, alleging the decision was dictated by politics — something Johnson denied.

"This federal agency blunder is bad policy and worse law," Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said. "We will take the EPA to court if necessary and once again demonstrate that no one is above the law. If the EPA won't obey the law or take the lead, at least it should get out of the way so states can protect our environment."

Automakers applauded the outcome.

General Motors Corp. said in a statement that "by removing the disproportionate burden of complying with a patchwork of state-specific regulations that would divert our resources, automakers can concentrate on developing and implementing the advanced technologies in ways that will meet America's driving needs."

Wednesday's decision was further confirmation of the Bush administration's adamant opposition to mandatory limits on greenhouse gas emissions, even after a string of court decisions affirming the right of states and the federal government to regulate carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

It was the first time the EPA had fully denied California a Clean Air Act waiver since Congress gave California the right to obtain such waivers in 1967.

The auto regulations were to have been a major part of California's first-in-the-nation global warming law which aims to reduce greenhouse gases economy-wide by 25 percent — to 1990 levels — by 2020. The auto emission reductions would have accounted for about 17 percent of the state's proposed reductions.

Nichols said California expects to win on appeal and does not plan to shift its strategy to meeting greenhouse gas reduction goals.

Despite the Bush administration's opposition to mandatory greenhouse gas limits, some congressional Democrats hope to craft a federal law. Earlier this month Boxer's committee passed a bill with mandatory caps on greenhouse gases although there are no immediate plans for the full Senate or the House to act.

California had been waiting for Wednesday's decision for two years. EPA put it off while a Supreme Court case was pending on whether the agency could regulate greenhouse gases. In April, the Supreme Court said it could.

In the wake of that ruling, President Bush directed federal agencies to craft regulations to cut greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles. Johnson said Wednesday he would review the newly signed energy bill to see what additional steps might need to be taken.

Associated Press writer Samantha Young in Sacramento contributed to this report.

Read more!