Nature's article on Blue state environmentalism last week was interesting and it looks like there is further evidence for Blue states emerging as leaders in improving environmental quality for the whole country. The NYT writes:

Ten states follow or plan to follow California's air quality rules, which have previously focused on auto emissions that cause smog, and the latest set of rules would for the first time limit carbon dioxide emissions. And as the largest of the 10 states, New York is being closely watched as it institutes the new rules.

If all 10 states and California succeed in enacting the rules, they will form a powerful alternative regulatory bloc accounting for about a third of the nation's auto sales.

"That is so much of the market it should reach a tipping point," Mr. Doniger said. "It won't make sense for the automakers to build two fleets, one clean and one dirty."

Give Up's hero, Eliot Spitzer, is ready for challenges from automakers who have opposed every single attempt at regulating their industry for the common good from seat belts to air bags.

Judith Enck, a policy adviser to Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, said she expected more challenges on many fronts, with automakers battling New York every step of the way. "We're ready for them to file a lawsuit if the state sneezes," she said.

Think I'm making that up? Well look what the UCS is quoted as saying in the same article.

"They said that seat belts would put them out of business; they said that air bags would put them out of business; they said fuel economy and emissions regulations would all put them out of business," said David Friedman, a senior analyst at the Union of Concerned Scientists.

It's true, they have never accepted any form of regulation without a fight, even such undisputedly good ones such as seat belts. It's like they have a protocol they engage in every time a regulation is suggested. First, you say that the industry is self-regulated or is only serving the public interest by offering an inferior/unsafe/polluting product. Then they say the regulations will bankrupt them. Then they say the regulations need to be phased in over two decades because the economy is slow. Then they implement the regulations and come out with touchy-feely ads describing the extraordinary efforts they undergo to make safe and efficient products but never mention this is only after they've fought the regulations every step of the way. Truly, the last step of the protocol is to always take credit for the good effects of the regulations as if it was their idea in the first place. The coal industry is another example of this.

Ultimately this article is proof of the Give Up principle in action. Blue state federalism is so powerful that no amount of idiocy from the red states will every fully prevent progressive policy in this country. The sheer power of the combined economy of these eleven blue states (California, New York, Maine, New Jersey, Vermont, Massachusetts, Oregon, Washington, Rhode Island, Connecticut and Pennsylvania) will force the auto industry to implement these standards for the entire country. So Give Up on federal politics, the Blue states will provide!