SACRAMENTO – Mary Nichols, Chairman of the California Air Resources Board, issued the following statement about Senator Boxer's new bill that would reverse the EPA decision denying California's request to be allowed to implement its regulations minimizing greenhouse gas emissions from autos. This follows revelations from a report issued by the house of representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, chaired by Representative Henry Waxman, that after communications with the White House, Administrator Johnson reversed his original decision -- supported fully by USEPA staff -- to grant California a waiver to enforce its clean car law .

"We applaud the fact that Senator Boxer's bill to overturn administrator Johnson's illegal denial of California's waiver request made it out of the committee. This is a significant step forward but only one skirmish in the battle to secure our rights and protect the environment. We will continue to fight for the waiver in the courts, we will press our case with the public, and we will not stop demanding that the federal administration obeys the law. Fourteen states representing almost half the vehicles in the nation and tens of millions of consumers need clean cars now that reduce greenhouse gases and save money at the pump. "