I can't see how this isn't a matter of regulation of international commerce, which is firmly in the federal government's mandate - otherwise you're literally restricting the sale of an automotive product in one state compared to another. Sure, you could argue that a state has the ability to set regulation about pollutants that will damage the local environment, but it's my understanding that carbon dioxide doesn't - it has a _global_ effect rather than a local one. This is probably why the federal law had to give the states the ability to set carbon dioxide levels rather than state law being in effect in the first place.

So, I agree that this is a federal matter not a state one. Do I agree with the change in policy? Oh hell no. If anything I think that this empowering states thing is a load of hogwash and states should *all* be required to enact the tough emissions laws that California is trying to go.

You're welcome!

I'd like to thank the awesome Perl community for helping me keep the tradition going. There was a period several years into writing the advent calendar all by myself I totally burnt out, and the Perl community came to the rescue, taking it over for a few years and turning it into a group effort. I eventually ended up taking the project back over but I mostly kept the multiple authors format (though last year for kicks I did write the entire thing.)

Ironically, nineteen years ago it was Slashdot that was one of the first "big players" to link to the Perl Advent Calendar that made it popular and not just something my local Perl user group thought was a silly idea in the pub on Nov 30th...