Capital Beat covers Rep. Pricey Harrison’s clean cars study bill, which would have North Carolina study the costs and benefits of adopting the clean emission standards used by California.”
Binker then links to Environment NC, ostensibly to provide readers with more information. But the info comes with a good dose of (gasp) global warming hysteria:
When it comes to global warming, the stakes are high for North Carolina. More than 3,000 miles of coastline make it the nation’s third most vulnerable state to rising sea levels. Warmer temperatures are predicted to bring more dry periods, punctuated by more heavy rainstorms.
Scientists believe that if we act now, and if we act decisively, we can avoid the most catastrophic impacts of global warming. .
With vehicle travel miles growing even faster than the state’s population, less polluting cars are critical if North Carolina is to help the nation reduce global warming emissions 80 percent by 2050—reductions scientists believe are necessary to avoid the worst effects of climate change.
Interestingly enough, a young girl came to my door the other evening soliciting donations for Environment NC so they can continue to lobby for — you guessed it —- legislation adopting tougher emissions standards. I blew her off, but when I saw her coming down the other side of the street, I went over, apologized if I was rude and tried to open a dialogue. She was a good sport, but it was clear she wasn’t very informed on the subject, just repeating Environment NC’s talking points. Too bad hysteria cited above is among the talking being hammered into impressionable young minds.
Here’s some background into adhering to “federal” or “California” emissions standards.
The California emissions debate, meanwhile, has reached a crescendo in North Carolina, where environmental activists are urging the legislature to adopt the California rules. A proposed bill to do so has yet to be considered by the state’s General Assembly.
Despite federal standards that already require a substantial reduction in a broad range of air pollutants during the next two decades, “At the federal level, we haven’t been getting much help in cleaning up the air,” asserted Rep. Pricey Harrison (D-Guilford), quoted in the March 1 Winston-Salem Journal.
Rep. Nelson Cole (D-Rockingham) countered the California standards could backfire, with expensive new mandates inducing consumers to hold on to older, more polluting cars and delaying the purchase of new automobiles that are significantly less polluting than their current cars.
“The main problem with the California emission standards is they don’t take the most polluting vehicles off the road,” said Cole in an interview for this article. “Studies show that putting California emissions on North Carolina vehicles will raise prices by anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars per vehicle. This will serve as a disincentive for citizens to replace the oldest, most polluting vehicles with newer, cleaner cars. We should first focus on encouraging citizens to replace the oldest, most polluting cars with newer vehicles.
“Taking the older cars off the road will likely solve most or all of our clean air concerns,” Cole noted. “The California emission standards should be adopted only as a last resort, if other, less-costly solutions unexpectedly fail.”
