California is putting itself on a new low-CARB diet—and it’s not part of the Atkins Revolution. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) is issuing new regulations and ratings on vehicle emissions, which require manufacturers to provide and display new global warming information on cars’ smog index sticker. The global warming information will debut in 2009. You can see CARB’s presentation on the subject here (PDF link).
As Climate Progress blogger Earl Killian told Grist, “Vehicles are assigned a score of 1 to 10 based upon their emissions, with 1 for the worst and 10 for the lowest greenhouse-gas emissions.’
According to Killian, California’s Low Emissions laws have led approximately 13 other states to tighten their own regulations, and at least eleven of those states, including Connecticut, New York, and Oregon, plan to implement the global warming labels, as well.
California has long been a pioneer in the crackdown on emissions from cars. I’m glad to see that CARB is furthering their mission, but would like to see California continue to step up and implement smart mass transit in its most congested regions (i.e. SoCal). Would more Californians get off of the freeway (a better option, altogether, than driving a low-emissions car) if efficient public transit were in place? Or are drivers too accustomed to convertibles and limos to make the switch?
Photo via flickr by acidwashtofu.
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