By Howard Fischer
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/knau/local-knau-703797.mp3
Phoenix, AZ – A state panel gave final approval today to letting the Department of Environmental Quality enact new greenhouse gas emission
standards for cars and trucks. Arizona Public Radio's Howard Fischer reports.
Everyone admits the standards will increase the cost of buying a
new car. But DEQ Deputy Director Patrick Cunningham said the
increase of about $1,000 will be more than offset by savings of
up to $3,000 over the life of a vehicle from higher fuel economy.
Knox Kimberly who lobbies for the Alliance of Automobile
Manufacturers told the Governor's Regulatory Review Council that
is fiction.
(Make no mistake. Addressing greenhouse gas emissions will come
at a cost. And public officials and regulators are being
intellectually dishonest when they pretend otherwise.)
His organization's economic expert figures the cost of cars will
go up $6,000, with savings of only about $1,000. Cunningham
countered that his numbers come from the California Air Resources
Board, versus figures he believes the auto industry is making up.
(It's flat-out wrong. It's advocacy. The numbers that CARB came
up with have been through the mill, a lengthy process in which
they have been validated.)
The council vote does not end the dispute. A federal court first
needs to order the EPA to let states regulate greenhouse gas
emissions before dealers will be forced to offer the more
expensive cars.
For Arizona Public Radio, this is Howard Fischer.