If California, Maine and 10 other states ever do implement new fuel efficiency standards to combat global warming, it seems they’ll have to overcome heavy duty opposition from more than just the auto industry.

U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., wrote a letter to President Bush Monday asking him to repudiate a behind-the-scenes lobbying effort against the states by Bush's Transportation Secretary and others. Waxman presented a trail of internal administration e-mails that suggest the effort was approved by the White House and was aided by the auto industry.

Federal courts have so far supported California’s plan to make cars and trucks more fuel efficient, despite the automakers’ argument that there should only be one nationwide set of standards. But California also needs a waiver from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has been threatening a lawsuit if the agency doesn’t make a decision soon. When, or if, California gets permission, Maine and the other states can follow by requiring the California standards.

Waxman said his committee, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, found evidence that the administration was improperly trying to give the EPA grounds for a denial of the waiver by lobbying federal legislators and governors to come out in opposition to California’s plan.

A spokeswoman for White House Council on Environmental Quality said the communications were appropriate and routine.

Here is an Associated Press story on the accusations.

And here is Waxman's letter and the e-mails.

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