Senator Barbara Boxer today released documents from an Environmental Protection Agency internal briefing. They show that EPA staff had recommended allowing California to have its own motor vehicle emissions standard. In Washington Jodi Breisler reports from Capitol Hill.
According to the documents, EPA staff members agreed that California needs tighter regulations on greenhouse gas emissions. That's because the state's ecosystem and population are especially vulnerable to climate change. They also suggest the agency will lose in court if it rules against California. Boxer says her staff had to copy those documents by hand, because EPA administrator Stephen Johnson won't release them.
Johnson: Why is he making it so hard for us to see these documents? Isn't that a slap on the American people who are paying his salary and paying everyone else's salary who advises him? This is not national security information.
Boxer hopes to question Johnson in person at a hearing Thursday. He decided early last month that California cannot have its own emissions standard.
From Capitol News Connection in Washington, I'm Jodi Breisler for KPBS News.
