Clean Cars
#1397: Clean Cars (2005)
Adopting California vehicle emissions standards.
Supported by Sierra Club (6 points).
Signed into law.
Adopts the California emissions standards for new automobiles sold in Washington after 2009. These standards will result in cleaner air in Washington, reducing dangerous greenhouse gas emissions, saving consumers money on fuel, and lessening our dependence on foreign oil.
Recently, the Canadian government and the auto industry reached an agreement in which Canada adopted nearly identical standards. With these victories, we are reaching the tipping point where it's no longer practical for the auto industry to make one set of clean cars for certain areas and another set of more polluting vehicles for others.
After nearly three hours of debate, it was the last bill to make it out of the House before the first cut-off (when bills must pass their House of origin to stay alive). In the Senate, we weren't sure if we had the votes to pass it when it first came up for vote. A number of Senate Republicans offered amendments to weaken or gut the bill, but all failed
Before the bill passed, however, the Senate attached two amendments that we didn't like, but without them, the bill probably would have died. The first, offered by Senator Hargrove, addressed a minor provision in the California standards currently the subject of litigation in California.
The second, offered by Senator Doumit, was more dynamic. It said that Washington could only implement the Clean Cars standards if Oregon adopted the same standards. It addressed the concerns of some of the Senators whose districts were close to Oregon; namely, that separate standards might have given Oregon auto dealers a competitive advantage (although that concern is not supported by what's actually happened in the northeastern states that adopted the standards).
Oregon can make the changes without legislation, and Oregon's Governor Kulongoski has committed Oregon to clean cars. During the final weeks of the Oregon legislative session, the auto industry successfully inserted language in the budget that would prevent Oregon from adopting the California standards; but Gov. Kulongoski vetoed that provision and Oregon is in the process of adopting the California standards.
Representative Murray; Senators Brown, Poulsen, and Rockefeller.
Representative Woods (offered hostile amendments to gut this bill; all died).
Representatives Jarrett and Morris; Senators Esser and Schmidt.