Assembly Bill Targets Global Warming Trend

California could become the first state to regulate gases from cars and trucks that are linked to global warming, under a bill that state lawmakers must act on by the end of next week.

Opening a new front in the fight against tailpipe exhaust, the legislation targets carbon dioxide emitted by the state’s 23 million passenger vehicles. The gas is not traditionally considered a pollutant, but is implicated by scientists as a major contributor to global climate change.

The bill is backed by an unusual coalition of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, environmentalists, nurses, water officials and some scientists concerned that global warming could have devastating effects on people and nature in California. The world’s leading auto makers oppose the bill, however, calling it poorly crafted and an end-run around federal authorities in charge of auto fuel efficiency standards.

“There’s a grand commotion about global warming, but we’re not about to buy into a regulatory program based on whimsy,” said former Assemblyman and Sacramento Mayor Phil Isenberg, now a lobbyist for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, which represents General Motors, Toyota and Ford Motor Co., among others.

Democrat Fran Pavley, a former schoolteacher from Agoura Hills elected to the Assembly last year, is sponsor of the bill, AB 1058. It requires the state Air Resources Board to adopt by January 2004 regulations that achieve the “maximum feasible and cost-effective reduction” of carbon dioxide from cars and light trucks while granting automobile manufacturers flexibility “to the maximum extent feasible.” The controls would take effect in January 2005.

“It may just be one state, but we are going to be more impacted by global warming than other states,” Pavley said. “California needs to take the lead on environmental issues. We’ve done this in the past and it would continue our legacy.”

But time is running out for the bill. Pavley introduced it last year and failed to get it to the Assembly floor for a vote. It will die this year unless the full chamber votes on it before Friday. The Assembly is scheduled to consider the bill on Tuesday.

Pavley is cautiously confident that she has enough votes this year. Her opponents in the auto industry say the vote will be close.

California’s foray into the global warming debate is part of a growing effort by local, state and foreign governments to seize the initiative since President Bush has been reluctant to act. The Bush administration has reneged on a campaign promise to cut carbon dioxide emissions and has not supported efforts in Congress to regulate the gas. The administration also rejected an international climate change accord--ratified by 180 nations--that it considers a threat to U.S. jobs.

Unlike other emissions, carbon dioxide does not form smog and is not a direct threat to human health. It is a molecule that absorbs heat from the sun and, as more of it is released by human activities, helps to form a blanket of warm air around the planet.

California has been a national leader in cleaning up air pollution. Unleaded fuel, catalytic converters and alternative-fueled cars were pioneered here. Scientists at Caltech discovered how photochemical smog formed. The state is home to some of the world’s most aggressive clean-air controls.

“California is uniquely positioned to do something about this,” said Dan Sperling, director of the Institute of Transportation Studies at UC Davis. “The auto industry doesn’t have nearly as much clout in California as it does in other states or in Washington. If you can’t do this here, you can’t do it anywhere.”

Among the strategies available to air quality officials are providing new incentives to buy fuel-efficient cars, to spend more on mass transit and ride sharing and to promote the use of low-profile tires, which reduce wind and road resistance and can improve fuel economy, said Russell Long, executive director of San Francisco-based Bluewater Network, which wrote the bill.

The auto industry has long resisted such attempts to change fuel efficiency standards on the grounds that more fuel-efficient cars tend to be smaller and lead to more injuries in highway crashes.

In a lawsuit filed last year, auto makers argued that California’s zero-emission vehicle mandate is an attempt to usurp federal regulation of fuel economy standards. The pending legal challenge is led by General Motors and joined by DaimlerChrysler, Isuzu Motor Co. and a group of San Joaquin Valley new car dealers.

“This is the only piece of legislation I can recall that orders [the Air Resources Board] to adopt a regulation with no measures of success. I can’t think of another example where you don’t have a scientific measure or standard to go against,” said Isenberg, the lobbyist.

But supporters of the bill say the stakes are too high to delay action. California gets more electricity from renewable energy sources than any other state, and vehicles account for 57% of the state’s carbon dioxide emissions.

Scientists warn that California could experience more damaging Pacific storms, warmer and smoggier conditions, and more pronounced cycles of flooding and drought due to global warming. A scientific panel formed by the United Nations recently concluded that global temperatures could increase by up to 10 degrees by the end of this century, although exact effects are difficult to predict, especially for local areas.

“The single biggest surface water reservoir in California is the Sierra snowpack,” said Jonas Minton, deputy director of the state Department of Water Resources.

“When temperatures increase,” Minton said, “snow levels rise and more precipitation falls as rain rather than snow, which reduces the water available as runoff in the spring and summer when we need it. There is evidence that this phenomenon is already occurring.”

Anticipating that a time will come when greenhouse gases are regulated like other pollutants, the Legislature has established a registry to track emissions reductions. Business that have voluntarily cut emissions can record their progress and count it as credit against future reduction targets.

Bob Epstein, founder of Environmental Entrepreneurs, a coalition of business leaders from Silicon Valley, said AB 1058 could save gasoline and money while harnessing innovative new technologies to fight global warming.

“AB 1058 will put California on the path to reducing the economic and environmental threats posed by global warming,” Epstein said. “The carbon dioxide emissions from personal vehicles could be reduced by 30% to 40% using readily available technologies that will save consumers thousands of dollars at the pumps.”