West Coast States Unite on Car Regulations

[kycarguy 935]

By BRAD CAIN, Associated Press Writer

SALEM, Ore. - Despite an effort by auto industry lobbyists to kill the move, two Pacific Northwest States � Oregon and Washington � are getting ready to adopt California's new vehicle emission standards to reduce greenhouse gases.

When that happens, California's newly implemented emissions standards � the toughest in the country � will be in effect along the entire West Coast from Canada to Mexico.

By 2016, all new cars, SUVs and light trucks sold in the West Coast states would have to comply with the tougher standards on emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, which are believed to be a leading cause of global warming. The 2016 date was set to give automakers plenty of time to comply with the new standards.

At least six states in the Northeast are also moving to adopt California's new tailpipe standards to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from cars.

It's an environmental squeeze play � with states on the two coasts working to try to force the auto industry to turn out cleaner, more fuel efficient cars, since those states comprise nearly a third of the U.S. car market.

"People realize that having more advanced-technology cars on the road will enhance our oil security and begin to address global warming issues," says Rob Sargent of the Boston-based National Association of State Public Interest Research Groups.

Under the federal Clean Air Act, California is allowed to set pollution standards for cars and trucks that are more stringent than federal standards. Other states can choose either California's standards or the looser federal rules.

Most northeastern states have followed California vehicle emission rules for years, and now those states are making the change to reflect California's latest rules regulating carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles.

While the movement has gained little traction in the Midwest and the South to date, it's gotten a huge boost with the three West Coast states unifying around the tough new California standards.

Sargent said other states, such as Pennsylvania, Illinois and North Carolina, also are starting to look at moving to the new California standards.

"Despite what the Bush folks say, more people are realizing that global warming is a problem that we need to begin to address," he said.

Climatologists have warned that if allowed to continue, rising temperatures caused by driving and other human activities will cause melting glaciers, rising sea levels and weather changes.

California lawmakers in 2002 directed the California Air Resources Board to develop rules to reduce vehicle emissions of greenhouse gases, a task the board completed last September. The regulations will be phased in starting in 2009, with all new cars, SUVS and light trucks required to be in full compliance by 2016.

The auto industry is suing California over its new standards, saying the state lacks authority to implement such regulations and that the rules would eventually add $3,000 to the cost of a new car.

"Consumers ought to be able to make the choices of options they want on their vehicle, and not have those choices made for them," says Eron Shosteck of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, a Washington, D.C.-based auto industry group.

Besides, Shosteck said, automakers have made strides in producing more fuel-efficient vehicles, including a growing number of gas-electric hybrids.

This year, the auto industry has fought to try to prevent the entire West Coast from becoming what environmentalists call a "clean car corridor."

Washington state lawmakers voted to bring the strict California car-emissions standards to their state. However, as part of a compromise, lawmakers made their bill contingent on Oregon adopting the same standards. Both states' regulations would take full effect in 2016.

Seeing an opportunity to kill the regulations in both states, auto industry lobbyists persuaded Oregon legislators to insert language into a state environmental agency budget forbidding the state from spending money to adopt or enforce California-style emission rules.

But Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski, who has aligned himself with environmentalists in the past, says he will use his veto authority to delete that provision from the budget.

That will clear the way for the Oregon Environmental Quality Commission to adopt the new tailpipe emission rules for Oregon by the end of the year, Kulongoski said.

The stiffer requirements would mean new cars sold in the state would have to emit 30 percent less carbon dioxide, 20 percent fewer toxic pollutants and up to 20 percent fewer smog-causing pollutants than the established federal standards.

Kulongoski, a Democrat, said Oregon and the other states need to act because the Bush administration has failed to take steps to curtail global warming.

"If the federal government doesn't want to move forward on global warming, then the states are going to have to do it," the governor said in an interview.

Besides the three West Coast states that are moving to adopt the new emission standards, six Northeast states are expected to finalize rules by the end of this year � New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Vermont and Maine, according to Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management, an association of state air quality officials from the region.

A seventh state, Rhode Island, is considering whether to adopt the new California rules or revert to less restrictive federal standards, the group said.

[pwd72s]

Damn! I'd hoped that the legislature would foil our Governor "Tax and Gouge me" on this one. He just announced he was going to run for a 2nd term, despite having very poor approval ratings....Cost estimates on this one is a $3,000 per car price increase...with little, if any, meaningful reduction in emissions. This matters not to "tax and gouge me", who caters to the green whackos...

[RoninLB]

this should be a referendum issue.

[Joeaksa]

Do Not tell Arizona about this!!!

JoeA

[1967 R50/2]

Well, it stands to reason that the states with the most cars are going to have the strictest regulations.

They will always be the bell-weather states when it comes to things like this.

No biggee. However, I bet that these regs were built around the Prius. Oh, What a Feeling!!

[Dantilla]

All smoke and mirrors, but it sure makes the legislators feel good!

If they really want to make a difference, they need to put a catalytic converter on Mt. St. Helens.

[gaijindabe]

Originally posted by kycarguy 935


The stiffer requirements would mean new cars sold in the state would have to emit 30 percent less carbon dioxide, 20 percent fewer toxic pollutants and up to 20 percent fewer smog-causing pollutants than the established federal standards.

Nobody seems to care that one beat up cab can spew more pollutants than 50 well running cars - so what is the 20% fewer toxins and smog causing pollutants really going to do??

As for 30% less carbon dioxide - that is nothing less than a fuel economy standard. The least polluting car in the world is still going to have water vapor and CO2 coming out of the tail-pipe.. Why dont they just crank up the price of gas until consumption goes down 30% and let the free market take care of itself?