As the new home of OSPIRG's environmental work, Environment Oregon can be contacted regarding this news release.
Oregon Joins States Leading the Fight Against Global Warming
PORTLAND—The
state’s Environmental Quality Commission voted today to adopt the Clean
Cars program, which will require new cars and trucks sold in Oregon to
cut their global warming pollution. New standards start to phase in
with model year 2009 and by 2016 will require new cars and trucks to
emit 30% less global warming pollution. The Commission must vote again
by June in order to make the program permanent.
“Today
Oregon brings its legacy of national environmental leadership to the
fight to curb global warming,” said Jeremiah Baumann, a clean energy
advocate with OSPIRG, the public interest advocacy organization.
While
global warming continues to cause substantial debate in Washington, DC,
there is near-universal scientific consensus that pollution is causing
global warming and threatening the environment and the economy. In
response to continuing refusal by the Bush administration to address
the problem, several states have taken actions similar to Oregon’s this
year. Maine adopted Clean Cars standards earlier this fall, and New
Jersey and Connecticut both adopted the global warming standards this
week. New York and Rhode Island are expected to act this week, and
Massachusetts is expected to act by the end of the year.
The
Clean Cars program was among a set of recommendations made by Governor
Kulongoski’s advisory group on global warming nearly a year ago, and
triggered substantial opposition from the auto industry. During the
2005 legislative session last summer, lobbyists for the Alliance of
Automobile Manufacturers and the Oregon Auto Dealers Association
convinced legislators to insert a provision into the budget for the
Department of Environmental Quality forbidding the Environmental
Quality Commission from acting on the recommendation. The Commission is
a citizen panel appointed to serve as the policy and rule-making board
for the Department of Environmental Quality, to set vehicle emissions
standards. However, Governor Ted Kulongoski vetoed the provision and
instructed the Department to begin drafting rules to adopt the Clean
Cars program, in consultation with a task force appointed by the
Governor. The task force received more than 1,200 public comments, 94%
of which were in favor of the program.
“The
public discussion and debate on this issue has shown that the Clean
Cars program is good news for Oregon’s environment and our economy,”
said Baumann. “That’s why a diverse and growing coalition of Oregonians
supports the program, while opponents are fractured and dwindling in
number.”
In
September, auto manufacturers sued the state, but the Oregon auto
dealers’ association didn’t join the lawsuit because of a lack of
consensus among members. The Oregon Vehicle Dealers Association
surveyed their members on the issue and the common response was “We
like clean air too,” according to the association’s president, Monty
King. By November, Joseph McKinney, CEO of the largest vehicle leasing
company in the state, Oregon Roads, had endorsed the Clean Cars program.
The
Clean Cars program will result in cars that not only emit less
pollution, but also get better gas mileage, saving Oregonians millions
of dollars even after accounting for a slight increase in the purchase
price of a new car. This spring, the Department of Environmental
Quality will hold more public hearings and take further public comment
before the Commission votes to make the program permanent.
