BERKELEY (June 24, 2008) — The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has announced that, starting in 2009, it will require new cars sold in the state to display labels indicating how much smog-forming and global warming pollution they emit compared with other vehicles in the same model year.

Each label will carry a score for global warming pollution and another for smog-forming pollution. On a 10-point scale, average vehicles will receive five points, the dirtiest vehicles will receive a one, and the cleanest a 10. Some dealerships may introduce the labels as early as next month.

The Environmental Protection Agency has a voluntary program for automakers to display such information, but typically only car companies that make relatively cleaner cars choose to participate, and only for some models.

"For most people in California, driving a car is the number one way they pollute," said Spencer Quong, a senior vehicles analyst with the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). "These labels are simple and straightforward and will make identifying a greener car easier than ever."

More than 1.5 million new vehicles are sold in California each year, Quong pointed out, which represents about 10 percent of the new vehicle market in the United States.

UCS staff wrote the 2005 legislation that led to the regulation. The bill, AB 1229, was introduced by then-Assemblyman Joe Nation (D-Marin County).

According to UCS, sample scores for popular vehicles include:

• Toyota Corolla sedan: smog 5, global warming 7
• Honda Civic hybrid sedan: smog 8, global warming 9
• Saturn Vue SUV: smog 6, global warming 4
• Dodge Caravan minivan: smog 5, global warming 3
• Ford Ranger pickup: smog 5, global warming 4
• Nissan Titan pickup: smog 4, global warming 1
 
"These labels will cut through industry greenwashing by making the automakers accountable," Quong said. "Hopefully, the labels will help prod them to clean up their fleets."
 
California can do more to put cleaner cars on the road, Quong added, by implementing a clean car discount program for new passenger vehicles. Under this program, consumers would receive rebates when they buy cleaner, more efficient cars, which would be financed by automaker surcharges on gas guzzlers.

"Labeling puts good information in consumers' hands," Quong said, "but given the scale of our environmental problems and California's ambitious goals to cut pollution, we need policies to make cleaner cars more affordable for everyone."