US President-elect Barack Obama is expected to grant a waiver allowing California and some other states to enforce their own greenhouse-gas emission standards on autos, it was reported on Monday.

"That would completely change the landscape for vehicle regulation and obligate automakers to produce cars that are far more efficient than those called for under current federal standards," the Los Angeles Times noted.

The move would help reduce emissions from cars which are believed to create about a quarter of US carbon emissions, said the paper.

"This is an essential piece of the nation's environmental strategy," Tim Carmichael, president of the Coalition for Clean Air, said.

The likelihood of getting the waiver was "over 95 percent," said Mary Nichols, chairwoman of California's Air Resources Board, which will implement and enforce the regulation.

She said that Obama's transition team has "had conversations" with her agency to coordinate how and when the waiver should be granted, according to the paper.

Environmentalists and state regulators have demanded that they be allowed to enforce their own greenhouse-gas emission standards on autos, saying the rules are key to combating global warming.

But the Bush administration refuted the demand, insisting that only the federal government can set car emission rules.

It's a nightmare scenario for automakers, who argue that complying with the guidelines set by some states would create regulatory headaches and a technology burden that could add at least US$1,000 and as much as US$5,000 to the cost of each vehicle, the paper said.

Asking carmakers to comply with California's rules would be tantamount to forcing a cancer patient to "finish chemo and then go run the Boston Marathon," General Motors Corp. spokesman Greg Martin said in remarks published by the paper. "Right now, we're just trying to make it through the current situation."

(Xinhua News Agency January 20, 2009)