After resolving to radically decarbonise California, the lawmakers there are going to enact a new law to prepare a defense against global warming and a sustainable tomorrow. The law will make it mandatory for new cars to be labeled with global warming scores. It is expected to be effective from the start of next year for all 2009 model cars. While the government has won some kudos from environmentalists for such efforts, and a similar law is slated to take effect in New York for 2010 model year vehicles, people do not seem to have taken it all in a jolly way. Especially, the monetary cost planned for their vehicular emissions.
The labeling law makes cars for sale to display a global warming score, on a scale of one to 10. The score takes into account emissions related to production of fuel for each vehicle as well as the direct emissions from vehicles.It will be displayed next to the already-required smog score, which also rates cars one to 10 based on their smog-forming emissions. For both scores, an average vehicle will have a score of five. It has a parallel in a proposed law in the European Union that would require EU public sector bodies put a price on emissions. This law has been endorsed by the European Parliament’s Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety. It would make governments put a monetary cost on the emissions of vehicles they plan to purchase, and add that to expense calculations.
Source: GreenBiz
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