The EPA’s recent denial of California’s request for a waiver that would allow it to set its own GHG emissions requirements for vehicles has stirred up a fair bit of controversy over the past week. In fact, in addition to widespread criticism in the media and blogosphere, the EPA and the Bush administration have also come under fire in the legal and political arenas.

In a recent piece, the LA Times describes the political maneuvering between senior EPA officials, the White House, and auto industry executives that preceded the EPA’s December 19 ruling. Possible linkages between the auto industry’s support of last month’s energy bill and the subsequent rejection of the California waiver petition has raised eyebrows, and now Democrats are threatening congressional hearings.

Jurist has been following these developments, as well as the EPA’s decision to turn over all correspondence between the agency and the Bush Administration that pertains to the California decision.

Stay tuned – it looks like there’s a controversy brewing.