California plans new round of auto pollution rules

California aims to double greenhouse gas emissions cuts and fuel efficiency gains in a new round of regulation for vehicles that will start late this decade and may spur draft federal goals later this year, the state’s top climate change regulators said. The new round in 2017-2025 could have similar cost consequences as the national standards adopted on April 1 for model years 2012 to 2016, adding about US$1,000 per vehicle in cost and delivering fuel savings of around US$3,000. California is uniquely able to set pollution standards for cars, and the environmentally minded state was ahead of the federal government in folding carbon dioxide and other climate-warming greenhouse gases into regulated pollutants. “We’re expecting to see a continuation of the move toward electric drivetrain vehicles, meaning either plug-in hybrids or fuel cells or battery electrics,” Mary Nichols, the chair of the California Air Resources Board (CARB), said. (May 26, 2010)