CARB News Release 6/22/07 - Environmental Performance Label

[cerberus]

New regulations adopted by the California Air Resources Board (ARB) will require automobile manufacturers to label their vehicles' smog and greenhouse gas emission characteristics. The label will allow consumers to consider and compare a vehicle's environmental impacts.

"This simple tool will empower consumers to choose vehicles that help the environment," said ARB Chairman, Dr. Robert F. Sawyer. "Most Californians recognize climate change as a very serious problem. This label will help consumers make informed choices."

Californians purchase approximately 2 million new vehicles each year. The 25 million vehicles on our roads travel about 900 million miles each day. Daily, this produces 2,288 tons of smog precursor emissions and 350,000 tons of global warming gas emissions. California's Smog Index Label has been required on new vehicles since the 1998 model year. The label was intended to help consumers compare the smog forming emissions from different vehicles within that model year. A law signed by Gov. Schwarzenegger now requires ARB to include information about emissions of global warming gases. This new label will be affixed to the window of every new car sold in California beginning in 2009.

[Gerry]

Well, I guess the science component of global warming is now settled. CARB says so.

[jayman]

Will the label state...low carb alternative

[LANDSCAPE]

California

The Cereal State

if you are not a flake or a fruit, then you must be a nut

[Talz]

Originally Posted by LANDSCAPE

California

The Cereal State

if you are not a flake or a fruit, then you must be a nut

lol

[JohnD]

Cool! Where can I buy a 1/1?

Screw you, Al Gore!

[cerberus]

CARB news you won't find in their releases:

July 03, 2007

Catherine Witherspoon has quit as executive director of the California Air Resources Board, the agency that governs air pollution cleanup in the state.

Her resignation Monday comes after her boss, CARB Chairman Robert Sawyer was fired last week by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger after the board went along with a plan to seek delays in cleaning up the air in the Central Valley.

The San Joaquin Air Pollution Control District?s plan seeks to delay enforcement of federal standards until 2024, contending that neither the technology nor the money is at hand to do any better.

State law mandates a 25 percent reduction in greenhouse gases by 2020. Democrats in the Legislature say with the loss of the state?s two top air cops that reaching the goal will be difficult.

Ms. Witherspoon, in an interview with the Sacramento Bee newspaper, blames unnamed aides to the governor in blocking CARB?s enforcement efforts and called the governor?s reasoning for firing Mr. Sawyer a cover-up because CARB was moving too quickly against businesses.

"The day-to-day orders that we receive from the Governor's Office are to do less, to delay, to not burden industry," Ms. Witherspoon told the Bee.

[JohnD]

Originally Posted by cerberus

CARB news you won't find in their releases:

Reaching the goal by 2020 or 2024 would be too difficult? A decade-and-a-half?! We put a man on the moon in eight years for cryin' out loud!

If they are THAT incompetent I say that we fire ALL of them.

[cerberus]

Originally Posted by JohnD

Cool! Where can I buy a 1/1?

From the related pdf of details.

For the Smog Index, staff recommends using a simple scale from 1-10 where 1
represents the dirtiest vehicle available and 10 the cleanest based on vehicle emission
certification standards. This scale is consistent with the U.S. EPA scale currently used
on their Green Vehicle Guide website. U.S. EPA found that through focus groups this
scale was meaningful for prospective car buyers. While U.S. EPA provides these
scores on its website, vehicle labeling using these scores is voluntary. Currently none
of the auto manufacturers label their vehicles using U.S. EPA?s program, however some
manufacturers reference their vehicles? scores in product literature.

For the global warming index, staff developed a scoring system also using a simple
1-10 scale. The scoring system incorporates all vehicle greenhouse gases mandated
by the ARB greenhouse gas emission standards, which take effect for 2009 model year.
Similar to Smog scores, the U.S. EPA provides greenhouse gas scores on its website
but does not require scores be printed on new vehicle labels. U.S. EPA?s greenhouse
gas scores are based on different calculation methods and at this time are not aligned
with staff?s proposed scoring system.

I haven't read the entire pdf to determine if they stayed aligned with federal epa ratings, as published at the epa site as they appear to claim.

The epa rates the Sky as a 6/6 where 10 is highest/best.

[Robotech]

I oh so despise CARB.