Author(s): Anonymous
Source: Onearth
Date of Publication: January 01, 2005

California has become the first state to regulate automobile emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that contribute significantly to global warming. The new tailpipe standards, which implement a 2002 law (see "The Golden Touch," page 47) to reduce global warming pollution, will require that greenhouse emissions be reduced by 22 percent by 2012 and 30 percent by 2016. "The only way to meet the standards is to accelerate the adoption of existing clean-car technologies and join the race for cleaner cars," says Roland Hwang, NRDC's vehicles policy director. Set to go into effect in 2009, California's standards require approval from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Predictably, some automakers have threatened to sue to block the new rule, but as of October 2004, no suits had been filed. "I'm confident that American manufacturers have the know-how to compete with foreign automakers," Hwang says.

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