Your ability to breathe is impinging on my constitutional right to make obscene profits
State seeks 30% cut in tailpipe emissions
Automakers say they may sue if 10-year plan OKd
- Jane Kay, Chronicle Environment Writer
Tuesday, June 15, 2004
California proposed precedent-setting regulations Monday designed to combat global warming by requiring automakers to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases in new cars, SUVs and pickups by nearly 30 percent over the next decade.
The rules, mandated by a 2002 state law, are the first in the country to curb carbon dioxide from tailpipes. Other states, primarily in the Northeast, are watching the regulations closely with the expectation that they will propose something similar.
Environmental groups praised the rules, although some said the emission reductions didn't go far enough. Meanwhile, the big automakers challenged the state's authority to regulate the gases, and said they might go to court to block the rules.
About one-third of California's global warming pollutants come from cars and light duty trucks, according to state scientists.
