New Study Shows we Really Should Follow Schwarzenegger, not Bush, on Car Standards

We matter because Canada is currently trying to decide between these two competing standards. In the U.S., momentum is building behind California’s greener rules so our decision will either add to that momentum or turn us into the political equivalent of a speed-bump.

California, which has traditionally led the charge on reducing pollution from cars, has introduced much tougher standards for global warming-causing pollution from vehicles than those proposed by the U.S. federal government. At least 17 other U.S. states (including big ones like New York and Florida), as well as Canadian provinces like BC, Quebec and Nova Scotia have said they’ll follow California.

If the California rules encompass enough of the North American market, then they will be the new de facto continental rules. The state is currently engaged in a legal battle with the Bush Administration to make their standard stick. This is a battle they are certain to win (as they have won every one so far), particularly since the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s own staff said that California has the right to implement its legislation and that the federal government is “likely to lose” any legal case. 

The state is also engaged in a series of skirmishes with the car companies who are holding out for their gas guzzlers, but in this case the Governator is trying to save them from themselves. If we try to hang on to building the cars that the climate simply can’t afford, we’ll be digging our own industrial graveyard.

You can help tip the scales by letting our Prime Minister know that you want him to surf the green tide – to find out how check out our related Good Life Action.

by Keith Stewart