Governor moves ahead on auto emission restrictions

OregonLive

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Gov. Ted Kulongoski moved ahead Monday with his plan to have Oregon adopt tougher state auto emission standards, a step that would give the three West Coast states the strongest restrictions in the nation.
Kulongoski, in a downtown Portland announcement, directed the state Department of Environmental Quality to being work on regulations and also appointed a panel to advise on issues involving the new restrictions.
"Recognizing that the science around global warming is now clear, I am committed to combating this problem to save our quality of life for our children and grandchildren," Kulongoski said. Watch Out! When anybody in the government starts mentioning our children, you know that something is wrong
"Adopting new vehicle emissions standards will not only deliver cleaner air, but it will also deliver real savings to Oregonians, particularly as the cost of gasoline continues to rise," he said. and your figures to back this up how?
"When Oregon moves forward, the entire West Coast will have the same heightened standards, and the pressure for the automobile industry to transition to cleaner cars nationally will be inevitable," said Kulongoski said.

The rules first would apply to new autos in 2009 model year.

Also mentioned in the same article, the auto industry estimates that this would eventually at $3000 to the cost of a new car. Using California as an example, it did not really save any money to consumer in fact, it a lot of times when you change the emissions control in a car, you actually reduce efficiency.

Let's also not forget about the resale value of the car. How many people have bought a used car with California emissions controls on it?

In addition, ODOT is already complaining about the lack of income that it receives because of higher efficiency cars at its reasoning for adding a GPS system to every vehicle for the per mile tax. Higher efficiency vehicles would just give them another reason to push forward with that plan.