Attny. Gen. Brown Calls Out Candidates on Greenhouse Gases

California Attorney General Jerry Brown wrote a whole stack of letters, one to each of the 18 presidential contenders on Friday. He requested they weigh in publicly in favor of approving California's request for an EPA waiver to allow California to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from vehicle tailpipes. AP:

He asked them to submit written testimony to the federal EPA, which is weighing whether to grant California a waiver needed to put in place a state law that would cut greenhouse gas emissions, mostly carbon dioxide, by 25 percent from cars and 18 percent from sport utility vehicles beginning in 2009.

At least 11 other states are ready to follow California's lead if the state gets the needed federal waiver.

"As one who may be the next president of the United States, I believe that your written statement, which we will submit to EPA as part of the legal record, will help bolster our case," Brown wrote in the letter sent late Thursday. "I urge you to give us the strongest possible statement for submission to EPA."

Brown asked the candidates to weigh in by June 15, the public comment deadline.

John Edwards and Bill Richardson have submitted testimony in favor. Hopefully, a few more will join them. The issue certainly has been in the news a lot lately, with the attempts by two Democratic legislators to push forward a bill to strip California of its authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. It is a fairly straight forward request and one that more candidates could fulfill.