Editorial: California a leader on emissions issue

Wednesday, July 24, 2002 | 8:44 a.m.

In 1975, when Congress passed the Energy Policy and Conservation Act, light trucks were left out of the Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards because there were so few of them. They were added in 1979, but their standards were far less stringent. Today, of course, it's a far different scene on the highways -- light trucks (pickups, sport utility vehicles and mini vans) outnumber passenger cars. Yet their standards under CAFE remain low -- 20.7 miles per gallon, a number unchanged by Congress since 1996. The passenger standard, 27.5 miles per gallon, hasn't changed since 1986.

Whenever there's a push to update the CAFE standards, Congress is bullied by the auto industry into making only weak changes. Because gas mileages remain low, emissions remain high, contributing to global warming and health-threatening air pollution. Consequently, it's time for states to take their own action. California showed the way Monday, when Gov. Gray Davis signed a bill requiring automobiles and light trucks sold in his state to meet vastly more strict emission standards after 2009. The auto industry, claiming that only the federal government can set fuel standards, says it will sue. It should use its resources instead to make cleaner vehicles. We'd all be breathing easier.