A contingent from Maine – led by Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner David Littell – is in Arlington, Va., today to be part of a peaceful revolt against the federal government and the U.S. auto industry.

Littell and Adam Lee, president of the Lee Auto Malls, were expected to testify at a hearing being held by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Also with the delegation is Steve Hinchman, an attorney with the Conservation Law Foundation in Brunswick. All three were strong advocates of Maine’s law to increase car and truck fuel efficiency as a way to fight global warming emissions.

The agency is considering a waiver to allow Maine and at least 10 other states to push ahead with their own efficiency and emissions standards even though they are more strict than the federal ones. The leader of the rebellion is California, which has established a legal right to adopt air pollution laws as long as it gets EPA approval. And once California sets a new standard, the other states are allowed to follow.

The auto industry is fighting the latest California initiative in court, but the blessing of the EPA is considered an even bigger potential obstacle. The hearing today comes six weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court rebuked the EPA for not regulating greenhouse gases. But some advocates for the stricter standards are now accusing the Bush administration of setting out to stall any added regulation as long as it’s in office.

Here’s a sample of that criticism in a column written by Arnold Schwarzenegger and Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell, both Republicans, and published in The Washington Post on Monday.

Here’s an Associated Press story about the hearing. We’ll have the updated story and comments from the Maine participants in tomorrow’s paper.

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