EVLN(Keep the CARB mother ship Green - maintain the mandate)

[Bruce {EVangel} Parmenter <BruceDP@iname.com>]

EVLN(Keep the CARB mother ship Green - maintain the mandate)
[The Internet Electric Vehicle List News. For Public EV informational
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 --- {EVangel}
MONEY ELECTRIC CARS ARRIVE AT MAJOR CROSSROADS AS CALIFORNIA GOES,
U.S. IS EXPECTED TO FOLLOW The Associated Press 03/30/2000 The New
Orleans Times-Picayune ORLEANS C3 (Copyright 2000)

The future of electric cars in the United States is likely to be
determined when California decides whether to pursue a requirement for
pollution-free vehicles.

The state's Air Resources Board is to rule this fall whether to keep,
modify or drop a rule requiring that 10 percent of new cars and light
trucks sold in the state have zero emissions. The rule would affect
all automakers selling at least 3,000 new cars a year in the state,
and would take effect with 2003 models.

With California the nation's leader in requiring cleaner cars,
environmentalists and health groups expect a major campaign by auto
companies to overturn or weaken the requirement. It has been scaled
back twice already.

"It's going to be an environmental litmus test, an indication how
green this administration is," said Roland Hwang, transportation
program director for the Union of Concerned Scientists.

The Air Resources Board chairman, Alan Lloyd, is committed to the
zero-emission requirement, spokesman Jerry Martin said. But others
seem to be more willing to make changes.

"Until such time as the general public feels comfortable with the
range of the vehicle, our attempts to get more of them on the road are
going to be hampered," said board member Joseph Calhoun.

The rule would require that thousands of the cars or light trucks be
battery-powered electric vehicles, although manufacturers could meet
up to 60 percent of the requirement with low-emission cars that get
partial credit. Five of Nissan's super-low-polluting Sentras, for
example, would count as one zero-emission vehicle.

The decision has implications for at least three other states  -- New
York, Massachusetts and Vermont  --  that have matched California's
requirement. Texas is considering such a mandate.

The federal Clean Air Act gives states the choice of meeting federal
emission requirements or adopting California's tougher standards.

"California is the mother ship," said Jason Grumet, executive director
of Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use management, which
represents air pollution control officials in eight Northeastern
states.

Caption: Tim Hastrup attaches a battery charger to his General Motors
EV1 electric car while his wife prepares to back out of the driveway
in her Honda EV Plus electric car at their Granite Bay, Calif., home.

The couple may be among a growing number of Californians who drive the
pollution-free vehicles. The state may require that up to 10 percent
of new cars marketed in California be nonpolluting.  AP PHOTO
 ...
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132V S-10 Blazer http://members.aol.com/brucedp/  BruceDP@iname.com
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