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Tailpipe Laws
Tue Feb 04, 2003
Listen in RealAudio 
Hi, I'm Bryan Yeaton and this is The Weather Notebook's weekly segment on Global Climate
Change. California has taken the lead nationally in restricting tailpipe emissions of
greenhouse gasses thanks to a new law that went into effect this January. Some claim that
California's law may exceed provisions in the federal Clean Air Act. Chris Richard has
more.
California is only allowed to set its own policies because of a loophole in federal law. In
1970, when Congress passed the Clean Air Act, California already had its Air Resources Board
in place. So the federal government agreed to let California keep its system of air quality
regulations. Other states may follow California's standards, as long as they're stricter than
federal rules.
Backers say this new law, which would crack down on tailpipe emissions of greenhouse gases
like carbon dioxide, falls under the California exemption to the Clean Air Act. But can one
state mandate entirely new kinds of motors and set fuel efficiency standards for the entire
country? Eron Shosteck of the Alliance of Automotive Manufacturers says that's what this law
really does.
ES: Carbon dioxide is a byproduct of fuel combustion. There's no technology you can bolt onto
a vehicle to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. The only way to reduce a vehicle's level of
carbon dioxide emissions is to combust less fuel.
Sheldon Kamieniecki, a political science professor at the University of Southern California,
says the California legislation does push things.
SK: One has to wonder whether climate change and CO2 emissions fall under the Clean Air Act.
There is some climate change in the law, but it's very vague.
Still, environmentalists are trying to broaden the Clean Air Act retroactively. In December,
the Sierra Club sued the federal government to have carbon dioxide included as a dangerous
chemical under the Act. That would give the California law much more clout.
Our climate change series is funded by the New England Science Center Collaborative and the
Roy A. Hunt Foundation.
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