This June we warned you that the left, discouraged by the utter failure of Lieberman-Warner in Congress, would instead try and implement a massive new carbon tax through bureaucratic means the same way California is doing with their California Air Resources Board.

Last week we detailed how President-elect Barack Obama’s EPA transition team choices signaled that Obama plans to forgo the legislative route, and instead attempt use the EPA to force cap and trade on the country using authority from the Clean Air Act.

Now the Sacramento Bee reports:

California’s Mary Nichols has an idea for how Washington can respond to global warming: Start with the Environmental Protection Agency.

Nichols, the head of the California Air Resources Board, has a big interest in whether that happens. She’s believed to be one of two finalists – along with Lisa Jackson of New Jersey – to head the agency for President-elect Barack Obama.

Nichols is one of eight state environmental chiefs who’s urging that the EPA take the lead in developing a plan to lower greenhouse emissions by amending the Clean Air Act.

Under that strategy, carbon dioxide would be classified as an air pollutant and be subject to federal regulation.