Don't get your hopes up.
http://www.katu.com/news/story.asp?ID=76745
SALEM, Ore. (AP) - Gov. Ted Kulongoski plans to bypass the Legislature to ensure that Oregon adopts California's tougher auto pollution standards.
Kulongoski has said he wants Oregon to get tough on global warming, arguing that promoting renewable energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions will be good for the state's economy.
The push to adopt the California standards in Oregon first came in December when the Governor's Advisory Group on Global Warming included them among a number of steps the state should take to reduce emissions.
The governor, rather than rely on the Legislature, will form a task force to figure out how to adopt the California standards, which would also improve fuel efficency.
"We're going to move forward with it," he told The New York Times in an interview published Saturday. "It's going to be this year, I would expect."
The governor wasn't available for comment Monday, but his spokeswoman, Holly Armstrong, told The Oregonian that Kulongoski has long been committed to adopting the standards.
"It's always been about how to do this, not whether to do this," Armstrong said.
The auto industry opposes the California standards because it will cost more to build cars that pollute less and get better gas mileage. Eventually, the price of new cars could rise by more than $1,000 a year by 2016, according to a report by the Governor's Advisory Group. But much, if not all, of the increase could be offset by fuel savings.
California has long had tougher standards to combat air pollution. Now it is implementing new rules to reduce greenhouse gases. The auto industry is attacking those latter rules in court, saying the states are exceeding their authority to regulate vehicle standards.
Kulongoski announced formation of the task force earlier this month but did not provide any specifics on its work. Now he wants to move ahead with administrative rules, rather than waiting on legislation to enact the emission standards.
Paul Cosgrove, a lobbyist representing auto manufacturers, said Kulongoski is bypassing the Legislature because he knows it won't pass the tougher standards.
"I think a change that dramatic deserves to be brought into the legislative process," he said. "We will probably work with like-minded individuals to do what we can to slow it down or stop it."
Sen. Charlie Ringo, D-Beaverton, is sponsoring a bill that would implement the California standards in Oregon. So far, the bill has not moved out of committee.
"I don't care how we get there," he said. "As long as we adopt cleaner vehicle emissions, that's the goal for me."
The new standards, which would take effect in the 2009 model year, would also lead to their enactment in Washington. The Legislature there last week agreed to adopt the California rules - but it said they would only go into effect if Oregon followed suit.
Other states with the tougher standards are Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont.
let me know what you thought of it.
