Cleaner Autos Urged in State
A leading environmental group will release a report today that says the technology already exists for automakers to significantly curb emissions of global warming gases.
The Union of Concerned Scientists will contend that the amount of carbon dioxide produced by cars and trucks in California will double by 2040 without state restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions.
The report comes as the California Air Resources Board is scheduled to hold a hearing Tuesday on the greenhouse gas issue in Sacramento in advance of proposing new emission rules in May.
A 2002 state law requires the air board to develop what would be the nation’s first plan to slash automotive emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases that can trap heat in the atmosphere, contributing to the condition known as global warming.
“The auto industry is expected to fight stricter standards tooth and nail, just as they have every new environmental or safety standard for the past three decades,” said report author Louise Bedsworth, a senior analyst with the group’s clean-car program in Berkeley.
Her report suggests several existing technologies that can be used to lower greenhouse gas emissions without adding much to the cost of a car.
“Automakers have the technology now to meet strong global warming pollution standards, just as they have met past standards for other air pollutants or safety,” Bedsworth said.
Automakers have argued that California’s program is an attempt to circumvent the federal government and establish a new, de facto national fuel-efficiency standard.
After Tuesday’s workshop, the air board will start drafting the proposed regulations to be issued next month. A final hearing on the proposed rules is scheduled for September.
Greenhouse gas standards adopted by the board would apply to all cars and light-duty passenger trucks sold in California beginning with the 2009 model year.
Although California is the only state to set air pollution standards higher than those imposed by the federal government, other states can follow California’s rules. So far, New York, Vermont, New Jersey and Massachusetts have done so.
Because the five states comprise a major portion of the car market, environmentalists hope that automakers simply will build all vehicles to meet California’s standards.
