And moving the emissions bill through those committees has been difficult.
Industry officials say they are undecided whether to challenge the latest emissions bill now or wait until the air resources board comes up with a plan.
The auto emissions bill, which Governor McGreevey signed into law later in the week, compares with California's requirements, the nation's strictest.
Mr. Kobylt and Mr. Chiampou said they follow no particular political agenda, but in the case of the greenhouse gas emissions bill, V. John White, a Sierra Club lawyer, and Fran Pavley, a state assemblywoman and the bill's author, are not so sure.
As lawmakers were considering the emissions bill, power companies lobbied heavily against it, saying it could raise electricity rates, would not significantly clean the air and would cost hundreds of millions of dollars in retooling that could cause energy brownouts.
In the last two days, the region's independent power grid authority and an official from the federal Environmental Protection Agency each sent letters to Hartford criticizing the emissions bill as too lax on power plants in high-smog periods.
The Toxics Action Center, which lobbied heavily for the emissions bill that later failed, criticized Mr. Rowland's order for allowing Connecticut power plants that emit less than their legal limit to sell the remaining "emissions credits" -- pollution rights -- to plants in other parts of the country.
The one thing so far that unifies the energy industry is its opposition to the Jeffords emissions bill in its current form, mainly because it stipulates that old power plants install the latest technology to clean up emissions within five years.
At once he is able to reap unlikely if grudging praise from environmentalists who had been counting on Democrats to pass the emissions bill, and make the Democratic leaders in the House and Senate seem weak on an issue that is historically one of their strengths.
Fran Pavley, a former member of the California State Assembly who wrote the emissions bill, said on Wednesday that Judge Ishii's ruling represented a legal tipping point, leaving the automakers and the Bush administration isolated on the regulation of gases that scientists say contribute to global warming.
But, as he told me while discussing the situation on his campaign jet during a springtime tour, he was not yet ready to sign the greenhouse gas vehicle emissions bill by then LA area Assemblywoman Fran Pavley.
