One year after Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger pledged to reduce auto greenhouse gases 25 percent by 2020, the state legislature has passed a bill that includes $125 million a year to develop alternative transportation fuels and vehicles and another $80 million a year to improve air quality.
Success will depend on whether the EPA allows California to require automakers to sell new cars with higher emissions standards than are currently required by Washington. California has pledged to sue for this right.
Eleven other states — Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington — plan to implement California's emissions standards if it gets the waiver. The governors of Arizona, Florida and New Mexico have said their states will adopt the standard.
Meanwhile the US automakers are fighting this initiative in Washington.
And just days ago, California, New York, New Zealand, Norway, provinces in Canada and several European countries formed the International Carbon Action Partnership to create a global cap-and-trade carbon market to build demand for low-carbon services and products. The details and a video from Arnold are here.
Go, Arnie, Go!!
1 comment:
Good post.
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