Subject: [Homestead] Environment in densely-populated California
Date: Sat, 25 Sep 2004 11:26:20 -0700
Fifty years ago I could not drive from Los Angeles Airport ninety miles
to the Needles on my way back to Wiosconsin without stopping by the side
of the road every four or five minutes to wipe my streaming eyes---a
heal of a way to live, and I don't want to listen to automobile
manufacturer babble about it being too-expensive to rectify---as if
manufacturing polluter-automobiles is more important than breathing.
By TIM MOLLOY, Associated Press Writer
/Last Updated 2:25 pm PDT Friday, September 24, 2004/
LOS ANGELES (AP) - California air regulators on Friday unanimously
approved the world's most ambitious rules to reduce the car emissions
that contribute to global warming, a move that could bring sweeping
changes to how the rest of the nation fights vehicle pollution.
The regulations are expected to cut exhaust emissions in cars and light
trucks by 25 percent and in larger trucks and SUVs by 18 percent.
Their approval by the California Air Resources Board came after nearly
two full days of debate and discussion, during which the auto industry
vigorously stated its opposition.
Industry officials argued that the board did not have the authority to
adopt such sweeping regulations, that they couldn't be met by current
technology, and that they unfairly targeted California, which produces
less than 1 percent of the world's greenhouse gases.
Heat-trapping greenhouse gases are believed by many scientists to
contribute to global warming.
The proposals would require automakers to reduce emissions by using such
technological innovations as better air conditioners, more efficient
transmissions and smaller engines.
Among those supporting the regulations was Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's
environmental protection secretary, Terry Tamminen, who said Friday he
and Schwarzenegger believe California should do its part to reduce
pollution. He strongly urged the board to adopt the proposals.
"We can make it clear that yes, we understand that our contribution, no
matter how large or small, makes a difference," Tamminen said. "Every
single action that we take -- or inaction -- makes a difference."
Gloria J. Bergquist, a spokeswoman for the industry trade group Alliance
of Automobile Manufacturers, said the regulations would only reduce
worldwide emissions of greenhouse gases by "one-tenth of 1 percent."
"We see that as no apparent health benefit at a great cost to California
consumers," she said.
Bergquist said manufacturers are already working to produce cleaner
vehicles, but that introducing the technology required under the
regulations would be "almost as complicated as developing the first
automobile."
Asked after the vote if her group planned to sue to block the
regulations, she said that was an option but no decision had been made yet.
The board's staff said the cost increases would top out at about $1,000
per vehicle by 2016. Staff members studied the automakers' estimates
Thursday night, and said in a report issued Friday that the automakers'
$3,000 figure was an exaggeration.
Air Resources Board Chairman Alan C. Lloyd and other board members said
they were disappointed that automakers did not accept invitations to
work with them on the regulations.
"The response, the silence, was deafening," Lloyd said. "We should be
able to work together. I hope that we still can work together on this
tremendously important issue. The stakes could not be higher."
Board member Mark DeSaulnier, a Contra Costa County supervisor, said he
had slept fitfully the night before the vote because he felt
"disappointment, frustration, and sometimes anger at the auto industry."
He objected to industry arguments that Washington, D.C., and not
California, should lead efforts to fight greenhouse emissions -- and
argued that automakers should have taken the lead themselves.
"If I had my druthers, it would be settled in Detroit," he said.
The proposals stem from a law signed by former Gov. Gray Davis in 2002
that required the board to set emission standards for greenhouse gases.
The bill's author, Assemblywoman Fran Pavley, D-Agoura Hills, said
Friday's vote marked the first time in the world regulations have been
placed on vehicles for the specific purpose of reducing greenhouse gas
emissions.
She said the fact the action had the support of Davis, a Democrat, and
Schwarzenegger, the Republican who replaced him, "speaks to the unified
effort among all Californians" to reduce greenhouse gases.
Board members said there is no dispute that greenhouse gases contribute
to global warming that can harm California's economy in fields ranging
from agriculture to tourism.
They said the emissions can also lead to serious respiratory problems,
especially among children, by exacerbating the effects of smog. Los
Angeles has the worst smog problem in the nation.
Board member Henry Gong, a physician, noted that many medical experts
pushed for the regulations and none testified against them.
.
[Homestead] Environment in densely-populated California,
Tvoivozhd, 09/25/2004