California has a history of setting trends. With
its new tailpipe global warming standards and diesel
cleanup programs, the state continues to lead
the nation in environmental policy.
by Jason Mark
Whether you live in Sacramento, New Mexico or Sacramento, Pennsylvania, chances are that policy makers in Sacramento, California have helped clean your air. The Golden State has a 40-year history of precedent-setting air pollution policies that have accelerated the pace of technology innovation. And as the fifth largest economy in the world, California’s actions can drive global progress.
State policy makers are now turning their attention to reducing the heat-trapping emissions that cause global warming, making California one of a handful of states taking strong action to address climate change in the absence of federal leadership.
Ahead of the Curve
California’s clean air leadership is borne out of necessity. Ever since researchers here first explained the mechanics of smog formation in the 1950s, the state has been a laboratory for the causes and effects of air pollution. And yet, despite decades of innovative pollution prevention programs, nine out of 10 Californians still breathe air that does not meet federal health guidelines.
In recognition of both its pioneering vehicle standards and the magnitude of its pollution problem, California has been given special authority under the U.S. Clean Air Act to make its own vehicle pollution standards more stringent than the federal government’s. No other state has such powers.
As a result, California has driven progress nationally by setting standards that have later been adopted by federal regulators. And thanks to a 1990 amendment to the Clean Air Act, other states can adopt California’s standards directly, without having to wait for the federal government to act first.
Seven northeastern states have thus far adopted California’s low-emission vehicle standards. Together, vehicles sold in these states account for slightly more than 25 percent of total U.S. vehicle sales and nearly one out of every 12 cars rolling off assembly lines worldwide.
California’s tailpipe rules are the most stringent in the world when it comes to smog-forming pollution and the most aggressive in pushing new technologies to market (such as today’s popular hybrid gasoline-electric vehicles and tomorrow’s zero-emission fuel cell vehicles). For example, state regulations require automakers to sell 125,000 hybrids per year by decade’s end, growing to more than 200,000 hybrids annually by 2015. A roughly equivalent number will be required throughout the northeastern states that have adopted California’s tailpipe rules.
Stopping Climate Change at the Source
Using its special authority to regulate motor vehicles, California is now crafting the first-ever standards to directly limit motor vehicles’ emissions of heat-trapping gases. Starting in model year 2009, the state will limit such emissions from new motor vehicles and set progressively tighter standards over time.
Dollars and Sense
Technology that can reduce heat-trapping emissions from cars, trucks, and SUVs exists, and it is tremendously cost-effective. In our report Climate Control: Global Warming Solutions for California Cars, we show that a vehicle designed to release 20 percent fewer tailpipe
emissions would cost $590 more up front, but consumers could save enough money on fuel to recoup this cost in roughly three years. Statewide emission reductions of
40 percent are achievable within a decade at a higher cost, but fuel savings would offset this additional investment in less than five years.
Our report Sick of Soot: Reducing the Health Impacts of Diesel Pollution in California shows that the incentives offered through California’s Carl Moyer Program have been hugely successful at cleaning up air pollution, saving lives, and reducing hospitalizations—all at a low cost. For example, Californians have received an
average of $13 in benefits for every dollar spent on the program. If the state invested $100 million in the program every year for 10 years, nitrogen oxide emissions would be reduced by more than 150,000 tons, while particulate matter would decrease by nearly 10,000 tons. By 2020, these reductions could prevent
more than 1,200 premature deaths, 1,000 cases of bronchitis, and 800 asthma-related hospital visits—benefits valued between $5.5 billion and $8 billion (outweighing the costs by about 10 to 1). |
The technologies required to meet these standards are simply the next step in the evolution of conventional gasoline vehicles: improved engines and transmissions, better air conditioners, more effective catalytic converters, low-resistance tires, and improved aerodynamics—technologies that make cars cleaner and less expensive to operate. Many of these options exist today in parts of the automotive market but have yet to be applied across the fleet.
The new emissions standards can be readily duplicated by other states around the country. As more states follow California’s lead, the pressure will build for national action—either driving automakers to voluntarily sell cars that meet California standards in all 50 states (as was the case in the late 1990s) or driving the federal government to finally address the heat-trapping emissions released by motor vehicles.
Automakers are likely to challenge California’s rules in court, arguing that the state has overstepped its authority to set pollution standards. California, however, has a solid legal case: it is simply working to protect the health and welfare of its citizens.
Protecting the Public’s Health
California is working to reduce not only smog-forming and heat-trapping emissions from passenger vehicles, but also the most harmful air pollutant from heavy-duty diesel engines: particulate matter, or soot. The soot released by freight trucks, buses, and construction and agricultural equipment can cause severe respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses, chronic bronchitis, cancer, and premature death.
A recent UCS study, Sick of Soot: Reducing the Health Impacts of Diesel Pollution in California, estimates that diesel pollution causes 3,000 premature deaths each year in California—a figure higher than the state’s homicide rate. Federal standards for new diesel engines will go a long way toward reducing soot emissions in future decades, but the majority of short-term pollution will result from the long-lived diesel engines already in use today.
California regulators have called for dramatic reductions in diesel soot during the coming decade and have begun to implement the first regulations to clean up diesel engines already in use. These standards will be the cornerstone of future pollution prevention efforts, but incentive programs can also play a key role. Here again, California has led the nation. In 1999, the state created the landmark Carl Moyer program to provide businesses with financing for the cleanup of old engines. The money invested in this program thus far has yielded significant financial and public health benefits.
In 2000, California launched its Lower Emission School Bus Program to help fund the cleanup of the state’s oldest and dirtiest diesel school buses. UCS has subsequently worked on legislation to replicate this successful program at the federal level, and although the legislation has not yet cleared all of the congressional hurdles, our efforts helped prompt the Environmental Protection Agency to identify seed funding for a Clean School Bus USA program.
A Lasting Contribution
The Golden State has built an important legacy of forward-thinking regulations and incentives that have translated into national policy action. This leadership-by-example is not confined to motor vehicles—whether the subject is tailpipe standards, renewable energy policies, or efficiency programs, California continues to prove that technology innovation spurred by aggressive policies can produce vital environmental and economic benefits.
Jason Mark is director of the Clean is director of the Clean Vehicles Program.
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