Clean Car Program Expands As California Sues

With the addition of Colorado on Wednesday, the 17 states approving cleaner car standards now represent roughly 50% of the U.S. population.

Colorado Governor Bill Ritter announced that his state would accept the clean car standards as part of a broad Colorado Climate Action Plan on the same day Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced that California is suing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for delaying decision on a waiver that would allow the state to implement the tougher standards.

California is the only state allowed under federal law to set air pollution standards higher than those imposed by the federal government, though other states are allowed to follow its lead. On December 21, 2005, California submitted a request for the EPA to grant a waiver that would allow for the enforcement of a 34% reduction in global warming pollution for cars and light trucks, and a 25% reduction for larger trucks and SUVs, within the next 10 years.

Colorado joins 16 other states prepared to enact the standards – Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont and Washington.

The transportation sector is one of the largest contributors to Colorado’s global warming pollution, and, like other interior western states, Colorado is especially concerned about predictions that global warming will disrupt historical precipitation and distribution patterns across the Rocky Mountain West.

“Water is the lifeline of the West. Governor Ritter’s leadership will help protect Colorado’s economy and its environment from the harmful impacts of a changing climate,” said Vickie Patton, Environmental Defense Senior Attorney. “Colorado has joined our western neighbors – in Utah, Arizona and New Mexico – to pioneer cost-effective solutions to global warming.”