March 3, 2008
Auto dealers support EPA ruling against California
McLean, Virginia – The National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) has issued a statement saying it fully supports the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) denial of a waiver to California’s motor vehicle greenhouse gas standards.The EPA denied the waiver, which would have permitted California to set its own greenhouse gas standards, on the basis that greenhouse gases are “global in nature” and do not present a unique challenge to the state.
“By rejecting a confusing multi-state approach, the Administrator recognizes the need for a single national solution to address energy security, tailpipe emissions and global climate change,” said Andy Koblenz, NADA’s vice president of regulatory and legal affairs. “If approved, the ‘California approach’ would also have likely forced manufacturers to reduce vehicle size, undermining passenger safety.”
NADA said that the 20,000 franchised automobile and truck dealers in the U.S. “strongly support a federal approach to reducing vehicle greenhouses gases,” and if approved, “the waiver would have required the auto industry to attempt to manipulate auto and truck sales on an ongoing basis to meet each state’s individual mandates.” NADA also reported that any state following California would have had to calculate its own fuel economy averages to limit CO2 emissions, “resulting in more than a dozen states with different fuel economy and emissions requirements.”
NADA said it supports the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) law, enacted in December 2007, which requires a 40 per cent increase in fuel economy over today’s standards by 2020, stating that “unlike the standards for which California sought EPA approval, the new national CAFE law should achieve real greenhouse gas reductions while maintaining consumer choice and enhancing vehicle safety.”
