“Green” Labels–a New Feature on your New Car!
As usual, California is leading the pack, especially when it comes to environmental issues. This time it’s not laws against cigarettes or political support for the Kyoto Protocol, but standardizing automobiles when it comes to global warming. That’s right—according to the Detroit News (detnews.com) beginning in 2009, all new cars in California will have a rating system for how much (or little) it contributes to smog and global warming, based on greenhouse gas emissions.
Not only is this going to benefit the environment, but it could also create competition among automakers to start designing cars that are going to get the best smog and global warming ratings. No longer will it allow companies like Ford to sit back and wait 5 or 10 years to really start putting their efforts into going green.
This also forces consumers to shoulder more of the responsibility in making eco-friendly decisions. True, all the smog and emission ratings have been on the internet for anyone to access, but starting in 2009 in California, those numbers will be right there for consumers to compare and make informed decisions with.
Standardizing these ratings and making them blatantly visible with a sticker in the window is another great step toward downsizing our carbon footprint. And let’s be honest, it isn’t going to single-handedly save the world. But with California accounting for 10% of new car sales in the country, this has the potential to make an impact and allows the automotive industry to participate and progress. Way to go, California!
To access the Detroit News article directly, click here: http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080630/AUTO01/806300329/1148