A new labeling program will clarify some of the mystery behind the environmental impact of various car models in California. The California Air Resources Board thinks their program will help consumers to choose greener cars and trucks.

Vehicles will be rated on a scale from 1 (dirty) to 10 (clean). By way of example, AP reports that a Dodge Caravan minivan will score 3, a Toyota Corolla a 7, and a Honda Civic hybrid a 9.

Labels will start showing up on new cars by next month. All new cars must feature the stickers by 2009.

Of course, we at Carectomy feel that reducing driving miles is the preferred solution. But, if drive you must, reducing your impact is a positive step. The fact remains that the only “green” car is the one not driven – but it's nice that we're starting to take hard, critical looks at vehicle emissions.

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Clinch said:

Personally, I think the scale should be the other way round (clean being 0 [as in zero-emissions] and the bar representing the amount of pollution) like the EU energy label. Also, does this take in to account the pollution from manufacture (including the mining and refining of raw materials [or not if they're recycled]) and from transportation? Because if not, then choosing a vehicle with a higher score may not actually be better for the environment.

June 29, 2008

Nathan Hurst said:

One thing I don't like about these arbitrary scales is that they tend to inflate. There is continuous pressure to relax the ratings, so everything moves up. Secondly, the fact that a current car gets 9/10 already suggests that there is nowhere to go and no encouragement to improve the state of the art. Better is to simply measure the true costs and print those.

July 01, 2008 | url

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