It is so easy to continue to lean on the ghost of Sen. Edmund Muskie for support in the ongoing campaign for clean air because he was right.

He was right when emission standards were first suggested for cars more than a quarter-century ago, and he remains right to this day.

Why, then, do states have to sue the federal government – the Environmental Protection Agency, specifically – to be permitted to adopt local regulations to maintain air quality? Why, despite decades of proof that enacting emissions regulations won’t spell the end of car makers, is it so hard to do the right thing?

When Muskie pushed the nation’s Clean Air Act, auto makers proclaimed it would be the end of the industry; that regulations would be so burdensome it would drive the cost of cars too high for everyday consumers.

Oh, really? Driven on any of the nation’s turnpikes lately? Tried to park in a mega shopping mall?

America has a car crazy culture that embraces personal automobile ownership. Families that once shared a single car now have multiple cars in the driveway. Recreational vehicles are bigger, SUVs and light trucks have long since replaced the family wagon, and the sprawling nature of real estate development demands we drive more miles.

We treasure our cars, but we do have to breathe.

Local car dealer Adam Lee believes we can celebrate car ownership and breathe easier without dooming the car manufacturing industry. He is one among other car dealers speaking out in support of imposing stricter emissions standards at a faster pace than the federal government requires.

In fact, Lee argues that stricter standards will actually help the auto industry, not hurt it.

“For 20 years,” he argues, “fuel economy has been allowed to stagnate, increasing America’s oil dependence and undermining the economic vitality of the domestic auto industry. It’s time to move the auto industry forward, not backward.”

According to industry research, if the federal government took the Muskie route and imposed a corporate average standard of 35 miles per gallon performance by 2020, it would create manufacturing jobs, boost sales and clean the air. We could have more American jobs, increased profitability for car makers, less dependence on foreign oil and cleaner air. What’s not to like?

In 2003, Maine was the first to adopt a law setting goals for the reduction of global warming emissions, a move since adopted by California, Arizona, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Mexico, and others. The feds balked, though, and California has filed suit to force the federal government to allow the local standards to be imposed. Maine and 13 other states are set to join that lawsuit.

This federal inaction is an example of solid science stymied by politics.

It would be wrong to pin the inaction on the current White House administration, though. It’s been collective inaction over a period of decades, through a series of administrations, from Muskie’s time to the present.

According to the National Academy of Sciences, auto makers have the technology to meet stricter emission standards. A number of auto dealers support the concept and manufacturers see the possibility of greater profits. Marketing companies push automobiles based on performance and fuel efficiency because saving money appeals to consumers.

If industry and consumers are on board, the federal government has no legitimate reason to stall. Is there no Muskie-like leader left in Congress who could make this right? No one?