Ignoring pleas of carmakers and business groups, a key state Senate committee passed a bill April 29 to curb global warming by further reducing California tailpipe emissions after 2009. The Senate Appropriations Commission voted 8-3 to approve the bill and send it to the Senate floor for a vote, according to the Associated Press. The Assembly passed the bill Jan. 31. The bill, sponsored by environmental groups and carried by Assemblywoman Fran Pavley, D-Agoura Hills, asks the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to write regulations reducing carbon dioxide emissions by January 2005. Backers say about 23 million vehicles contribute 60 percent of California's so-called "greenhouse gases" attributed to global warming. The bill would apply to new cars and light trucks and not to commercial vehicles. The April 29 vote followed testy exchanges between a lobbyist for car dealers who labeled the bill a "physical abomination," and committee Democrats who called automakers "obstructionists."
0 Comments