Waxman: White House should reject DoT lobbying effort

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) on Monday called on the White House to renounce a “behind-the-scenes” lobbying campaign, directed by Department of Transportation (DoT) Secretary Mary Peters, to block a California emissions standard.

{mosads}Waxman, chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, made the demand in a letter to White House Council on Environmental Quality Chairman James Connaughton.

The lawmaker said evidence unearthed by his staff shows that Peters is lobbying behind the scenes to get the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to block a California standard that would regulate greenhouse gas emissions generated by motor vehicles.

“According to [documents] and interviews with senior officials, the goal was to urge members of Congress and state governors to oppose EPA approval of the new California motor vehicle standards,” Waxman said, adding that it is “not an appropriate use of taxpayer dollars to organize a lobbying campaign to politicize this vital regulatory decision.”

He said that if Peters has an objection to the approval, she should use EPA’s comment process to voice them.

Waxman charged that the lobbying campaign was coordinated with the car industry, which provided to the administration “a list of automotive facilities organized by congressional district.” That list, according to a former deputy chief of staff at DoT, Simon Gros, was then used to target certain members of Congress.

Waxman said the evidence indicates that “The administration is trying to stack the deck against California’s efforts to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles. It suggests that political considerations — not the merits of the issue — will determine how EPA acts.”