Legislature Ponders Valentine’s Day Love Affair with Clean Cars
by StaceyBy Heidi Alford, Sierra Club Intern
As each year brings an increase in global temperatures, more days when air quality is deemed unsafe, and new cases of asthma and cancer caused by toxic chemicals and fine-particle soot in the air, Americans have been forced to rethink existing policies regarding pollution control and greenhouse gas emissions. Although the popularity of energy efficient cars has been growing, motor vehicles – especially pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles (SUVs) – are still the nation’s second biggest source of carbon dioxide emissions.
When it passed legislation instating auto emission standards stricter than the ones the federal government has in place, California set an example that should lead to a cleaner, healthier America. These standards require car manufacturers to lower carbon dioxide emissions and other pollutants from passenger vehicle tailpipes, air conditioners, and other auto-related sources; they will reduce global warming gases significantly more than the 2007 federal energy law. However, in December of 2007 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) denied the waiver request California needs to enforce their new standards – and as a result, EPA is currently being sued by numerous states determined to overturn the decision.
Last month Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson declared her support for California by joining the 16 other states filing suit, intending to ensure Minnesota’s ability to adopt the standards in the future. This session a bill has been introduced to the Minnesota State Legislature to accept California’s lower emission levels; it will be discussed in a hearing by the House Environment and Natural Resources Committee on February 14.
Along with the eleven other member organizations of Clean Energy Minnesota, a coalition devoted to establishing cleaner energy alternatives and limiting global warming emissions, the North Star Chapter of the Sierra Club hopes to see Minnesota join the other states – representing over 40% of America’s car-buying consumers – which have already passed legislation to match California’s standards. “Minnesotans deserve clean air, a healthy climate — and more miles to the dollar,” insists Christopher Childs, Co-chair of the chapter’s Clean Air and Renewable Energy Committee. “A Clean Cars bill, based on the one California and a dozen other states have already put in place, will help get us all of the above. It will cut back on all kinds of auto pollution, all the way from the tailpipe to the air conditioner — including carbon dioxide and other global warming gases — while it makes our cars cheaper to drive.
“The world has a limited amount of oil, and along with cutting pollution, we need to be using every gallon wisely,” Childs adds. “When California passed its bill in 2002, it gave us all a way to address both problems in one strong legislative package. And the Clean Cars initiative will help keep Minnesota a leader on both fronts.”
