As the nation's fourth-largest state, Florida is about to take a big step forward in the war against car emissions, which might be a tipping point for the whole nation. It looks like Gov. Charlie Crist is about to join the CARB crowd and add his state to the list of those with limits on greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles. Although we are waiting for the official announcement to confirm this news, a few moves by the governor's office seem to indicate that this is indeed the direction he will be taking his state. Florida would be the twelfth state on the list to adopt the CO2 limits set by the California Air Resources Board.
The CARB limits call for a 30 percent cut in carbon dioxide emissions by 2016. Automakers have fought these California limits as being illegal. They claim only the federal government can regulate fuel economy and think this is essentially the same thing. Considering its size and struggle with pollution in the past, the federal government allowed California to set its own emissions standards, and other states have been given the choice to adopt federal emissions standards or adopt the stricter ones set by CARB. It makes it tough for manufacturers to keep up when there isn't one set of federal rules, but California, for one, thinks moving on their own is the only way to get things to change.
[Source: Automotive News - sub. req.]
