California on Tuesday warned it would sue the US government if it blocked ambitious efforts to slash greenhouse gas-causing emissions from motor vehicles.
At a hearing of the Environmental Protection Agency, California Attorney General Jerry Brown accused President George W. Bush's administration of acting in collusion with auto and oil industries to stymie the state's plans.
Brown said in a statement that federal law entitled California to set vehicle emission standards that were tougher than national law, and allowed states to adopt the California standard.
California passed legislation in 2002 requiring automakers to reduce vehicle emissions 30 percent by 2016. Eleven other US states had said they will adopt California's emissions standards.
However for the law to take effect, California requires approval with a waiver from the EPA -- which has so far not been forthcoming despite a request being filed in December 2005.
"Our waiver request has been pending for a year and a half, which is an unreasonable delay," Brown told the hearing according to a statement released by his office.
"Our patience is wearing thin. We watch the President and his EPA acting in collusion with the auto and oil industries, while we want to take reasonable, constructive steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
"We are now preparing to sue unless we receive our waiver within a short time."
Brown said California's emissions targets to global warming emissions were achievable within the time-frame.
"There is no doubt that automobile manufacturers can meet that goal, and since the the federal government does not want to seek such a reduction California intends to move forward," he said.
California's Republican governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has made the environment a key issue of his tenure, signing a historic bill in September last year 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.
