For your car’s global warming performance, check the sticker
By Jim Motavalli
In a measure previously taken only in CA that provides a model for the entire nation, CT will now require cars sold in the state to display a window label disclosing how much global warming gas (primarily carbon dioxide, or CO2) they emit. It’s a measure we may see echoed soon in other states that follow CA emission laws, including PA and MA.
For most Americans, the connection between auto exhaust and climate change is not an exact science. Contrary to popular belief (and a point confounding even some of the seasoned politicians at the signing ceremony), CO2 is not simply another tailpipe pollutant that can be cut to near nothing by installing a better catalytic converter. Instead, CO2 emissions are closely tied to fuel economy, so the only way to reduce them is to build more fuel-efficient vehicles. And that’s what sent automakers to court when CA regulators required them to reduce their climate impact. The carmakers say in their suit that the CA law amounts to illegal state regulation of fuel economy.
So it’s safe to say that some of the gas-guzzling Expeditions and Excursions that formed the backdrop of Rell’s ceremony at a Norwalk Ford dealership will be getting fairly alarming climate scores (though the company’s 30-mpg Escape Hybrid, also on display, should acquit itself nicely).
State Senator Bill Finch (D-Bridgeport), one of many politicians “bowled over” by Al Gore’s film An Inconvenient Truth, said greenhouse gas regulation is essential if we’re going to avoid “palm trees in Wyoming.” And Rell added, “It’s the right thing for CT.”
The Northeast generally, and CT in particular, has fairly bad air quality, with many counties in non-compliance with EPA standards. That’s why I found it amusing to have a car salesman tell me last week how fortunate we are in this part of the world to have avoided CA’s polluted skies. “It’s all the trees we have,” he said confidently. In fact, our bad air is what persuaded state legislators from ME to NY to embrace CA’s emission laws, which are some of the most stringent in the world.
Unfortunately, even though fuel economy has moved to the top of customers’ concerns when buying a new car, tailpipe emissions and greenhouse gas scores remain way, way off their radar screens. Sales people tell me that customers rarely, if ever, ask about emissions performance.
The CT stickers won’t be seen until the 2009 model year, by which time there will be few global warming skeptics left. The forward-thinking state law also sets up a state fund dedicated to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, funded by a $5 fee applied to vehicle sales and leases.
We don’t have to wait until 2009 to do something about global warming. We can all do our parts to counter rising sea levels, melting glaciers, threatened biodiversity and sharply more intense storms. And we can start by making smart decisions on the dealer lots. With $3-a-gallon gas, who could justify buying a gas guzzler anyway?
In a measure previously taken only in CA that provides a model for the entire nation, CT will now require cars sold in the state to display a window label disclosing how much global warming gas (primarily carbon dioxide, or CO2) they emit. It’s a measure we may see echoed soon in other states that follow CA emission laws, including PA and MA.
For most Americans, the connection between auto exhaust and climate change is not an exact science. Contrary to popular belief (and a point confounding even some of the seasoned politicians at the signing ceremony), CO2 is not simply another tailpipe pollutant that can be cut to near nothing by installing a better catalytic converter. Instead, CO2 emissions are closely tied to fuel economy, so the only way to reduce them is to build more fuel-efficient vehicles. And that’s what sent automakers to court when CA regulators required them to reduce their climate impact. The carmakers say in their suit that the CA law amounts to illegal state regulation of fuel economy.
So it’s safe to say that some of the gas-guzzling Expeditions and Excursions that formed the backdrop of Rell’s ceremony at a Norwalk Ford dealership will be getting fairly alarming climate scores (though the company’s 30-mpg Escape Hybrid, also on display, should acquit itself nicely).
State Senator Bill Finch (D-Bridgeport), one of many politicians “bowled over” by Al Gore’s film An Inconvenient Truth, said greenhouse gas regulation is essential if we’re going to avoid “palm trees in Wyoming.” And Rell added, “It’s the right thing for CT.”
The Northeast generally, and CT in particular, has fairly bad air quality, with many counties in non-compliance with EPA standards. That’s why I found it amusing to have a car salesman tell me last week how fortunate we are in this part of the world to have avoided CA’s polluted skies. “It’s all the trees we have,” he said confidently. In fact, our bad air is what persuaded state legislators from ME to NY to embrace CA’s emission laws, which are some of the most stringent in the world.
Unfortunately, even though fuel economy has moved to the top of customers’ concerns when buying a new car, tailpipe emissions and greenhouse gas scores remain way, way off their radar screens. Sales people tell me that customers rarely, if ever, ask about emissions performance.
The CT stickers won’t be seen until the 2009 model year, by which time there will be few global warming skeptics left. The forward-thinking state law also sets up a state fund dedicated to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, funded by a $5 fee applied to vehicle sales and leases.
We don’t have to wait until 2009 to do something about global warming. We can all do our parts to counter rising sea levels, melting glaciers, threatened biodiversity and sharply more intense storms. And we can start by making smart decisions on the dealer lots. With $3-a-gallon gas, who could justify buying a gas guzzler anyway?
posted by malishka @ 10:49 AM
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