California Regulates Global Warming Emissions from Motor Vehicles

The Basics 

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  On July 22, 2002 California Governor Gray Davis signed into law AB 1493 (commonly known as the "Pavley law")—precedent-setting legislation to reduce global warming pollution from motor vehicles. 
• This bill directs the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to develop and adopt regulations that achieve the maximum feasible and cost-effective reduction of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from passenger cars and light trucks sold in California. 
• Regulations were developed during 2004 through a series of public workshops and hearings, and were adopted by the California Air Resources Board on September 24, 2004. Regulations will apply only to 2009 and later model year vehicles and will require about a 30% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2016.

Why is this historic? 

• No other state or nation has previously adopted legislation specifically intended to cut motor vehicle pollution that causes global warming, despite the fact that motor vehicles are one of the largest sources of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other GHG emissions globally. 
• In the U.S. roughly one-third of all CO2 emissions come from transportation sources. That percentage is even higher in California, where 41 percent of CO2 emissions stem from the transportation sector. Moreover, transportation is growing more rapidly as a source of greenhouse gas emissions than other major sectors, both in the U.S., and globally.  
     
   

Why do we need to cut global warming emissions in California? 

• Global warming is already occurring, and is expected to accelerate during the next few decades. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the leading scientific authority on global warming, predicts that average surface temperatures will increase between 3 and 10.5 degrees Fahrenheit during this century. 

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  In California global warming is likely to result in increasingly severe water shortages, longer and more intense heat waves, property damage from storm surges and rising sea levels, an increase in frequency and damage from wildfires, and more. Longer and more severe heat waves can also lead to and increase in urban and central valley smog-formation. Rising sea levels could also lead to destruction of freshwater marshes and other wetlands and cause saltwater intrusion on the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta, harming fish and wildlife. 
• Climate change is also likely to negatively impact many important sectors of the California economy, including agriculture (especially the wine and nut industries), recreation (skiing, boating, fishing, river rafting, and other recreation), housing and other construction (because water shortages could limit new development), electric generation (from reduced hydroelectric power and increased air conditioning loads), and more. 
• As the sixth largest economy in the world, California is itself a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions globally, and has a responsibility to begin reducing its global warming pollution as rapidly as possible. California has a history of leading the nation in reducing air pollution and protecting the environment. This effort to reduce global warming pollution continues that record of leadership. While federal law bars states from setting their own air quality standards, it allows them to adopt California’s. Eight states are poised to incorporate California’s new rules, creating perhaps the most significant pressure for federal action on global warming to date.

Automakers Sue to Block Regulations

• The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, the Association of International Automobile Manufacturers, and some California dealerships filed suit against California on December 7, 2004 threatening to thwart California's and all states’ rights to defend their people, natural resources, and economies from automotive air pollution.
• Find out more by going to UCS's Automaker v. The People campaign and send a letter to the editor telling automakers to use their engineers, not their lawyers.