Thirty-two years of precedence have disappeared in a flash. It is both a lost opportunity to embrace a long-term perspective on the health of our planet. And it is another sad display of the utter lack of transparency of the Bush-Cheney administration on issues related to our national energy policy. But it also provides a wonderous view into the contortions of US politics.

The state of California had asked the EPA for a waiver on emissions standards for new cars and, for the first time since 1975, was denied by the federal government. The waiver would have allowed California to enforce more strict emissions controls on new cars than had been mandated by the EPA. Seventeen other states representing 45% of the US car-buying population had voluntarily agreed to uphold the same standards if the waiver had passed.

I’ll leave the discussion of the environmental impact (to me one of the depressing parts) to other folks. I’ll also let other folks discuss the lack of transparency (the other depressing part), except to point out that as reported in the Washington Post, the the EPA “decision documents” have yet to be released. So what’s left to discuss? A lot of political intrigue and machinations. Here’s a list:

1. The Timing. The EPA denial came on the same day the Bush administration signed a new energy bill. With the signing they tried to paint themselves as being environmentally responsible.
2. The Forces Against. Michigan and the auto industry tend to vote strongly democratic. Here we see an alliance between Michigan politicians and a Republican administration.
3. The Forces For. A Republican governor (Arnold Schwarzenegger), a liberal Attorney General (Jerry Brown).
4. Support for States’ Rights. Typically a cause very close to the heart of the Republican party, here we had a Republican president rationalizing this decision through the need for a Federal standard, and a Democratic Congressional contingent pushing for the right for states to be able to determine their own policies and regulations independent of the national government.

Not confused yet? Now think of another policy (maybe family planning?), and imagine how the politics and rhetoric would shift. Fascinating.

There aren’t a lot of environmental groups with their own investment bank consultants, so when you hear that Environmental Defense has just hired the boutique Wall Street firm Perella Weinberg Partners, you know that we’re in a new world. Every college activist should study this story, because it is the future.

I’ve always believed in the power of free markets. And I’ve always believed we had to do more to protect our environment. While in college, I spent six months in Costa Rica studying (and surfing – here’s a pic found on Flickr of my favorite spot) how the government was using capitalism to protect their rain forests. They had hit on a combination of eco-tourism and leveraging the bio-diversity of their plant life for pharmaceutical development. Capitalism for good!!!

When I got back to the States, some of my enthusiasm waned. I began to feel that the environmental movement in the US was more preachy than pragmatic. I abandoned plans to study environmental law and became an investment banker (sellout). Years later, it’s nice to see that environmentalists are embracing the power of Adam Smith’s invisible hand to bring about positive change.