Calif+11 states demand ultra-tough emissions
#1
05-25-2007, 10:47 AM
Calif+11 states demand ultra-tough emissions
{this will affect what Dodge models are sold in those 12 states and what the power output of engines will be}
May 23, 2007
California Wants Strict Auto Emission Rules
By JOHN M. BRODER, NYT
ARLINGTON, Va., May 22 — Officials from California demanded on Tuesday that federal regulators allow the state to impose the strictest automobile and light truck emissions rules in the nation. They said that new regulations were needed to lessen the threat of global warming and threatened to sue if the government did not allow them to go forward.
California’s attorney general, Jerry Brown, told an Environmental Protection Agency panel here that the proposed standards on greenhouse gases were the most comprehensive effort in the nation’s history to address issues experts attribute to the gradual warming of the planet, including melting ice caps, rising sea levels and rampant wildfires.
“Protecting our planet is not a partisan issue, and the states now want to do what we can in the absence of federal action,” said Mr. Brown, a former governor of California, “and the E.P.A. has no right to deny us the ability to move forward.”
A representative of the auto industry warned that adopting the new California standards would be “counterproductive,” raising the price of cars, costing jobs and imposing inconsistent auto emissions standards around the country.
Mr. Brown noted that the auto and oil industries objected to the new rules, but urged the E.P.A. panel to overrule them in the interests of the broader public.
Eleven other states, including New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, have said they will adopt the California standards if the federal government approves them. Together they account for roughly 30 percent of the American population and 30 percent of the vehicles on the road. Tailpipe emissions from cars and trucks account for about a third of all the greenhouse gas production in the United States.
California is seeking a waiver under the federal Clean Air Act to enact its own emissions standards with a goal of reducing greenhouse gas production from vehicles by 30 percent by 2016. California officials argue that affordable technology exists to make cars run cleaner and burn less fuel, and thus produce less carbon dioxide and other pollutants that may contribute to global warming.
May 23, 2007
California Wants Strict Auto Emission Rules
By JOHN M. BRODER, NYT
ARLINGTON, Va., May 22 — Officials from California demanded on Tuesday that federal regulators allow the state to impose the strictest automobile and light truck emissions rules in the nation. They said that new regulations were needed to lessen the threat of global warming and threatened to sue if the government did not allow them to go forward.
California’s attorney general, Jerry Brown, told an Environmental Protection Agency panel here that the proposed standards on greenhouse gases were the most comprehensive effort in the nation’s history to address issues experts attribute to the gradual warming of the planet, including melting ice caps, rising sea levels and rampant wildfires.
“Protecting our planet is not a partisan issue, and the states now want to do what we can in the absence of federal action,” said Mr. Brown, a former governor of California, “and the E.P.A. has no right to deny us the ability to move forward.”
A representative of the auto industry warned that adopting the new California standards would be “counterproductive,” raising the price of cars, costing jobs and imposing inconsistent auto emissions standards around the country.
Mr. Brown noted that the auto and oil industries objected to the new rules, but urged the E.P.A. panel to overrule them in the interests of the broader public.
Eleven other states, including New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, have said they will adopt the California standards if the federal government approves them. Together they account for roughly 30 percent of the American population and 30 percent of the vehicles on the road. Tailpipe emissions from cars and trucks account for about a third of all the greenhouse gas production in the United States.
California is seeking a waiver under the federal Clean Air Act to enact its own emissions standards with a goal of reducing greenhouse gas production from vehicles by 30 percent by 2016. California officials argue that affordable technology exists to make cars run cleaner and burn less fuel, and thus produce less carbon dioxide and other pollutants that may contribute to global warming.