AltEnToday

The Obama administration today moved to rescind a 2007 decision by the EPA to not allow individual states the opportunity to set their own emissions standards. Under the previous state of EPA control, states couldn’t create emissions standards that were greater than federal ones - the argument being that automakers might be forced to build multiple versions of the same cars depending on what state they were being purchased in. On top of that, a car bought in one area with lower emissions standards might need to be modified after-the-purchase to allow that car to operate in a state with higher emissions standards (smog certifications could become quite an adventure).

According to the article cited above, 14 states in total are interested in pushing up their environmental requirements - which is fortunately a significant enough number that we will likely see the effect be a nationwide ripple on better efficiency standards. Were it just one state - California for instance which has been lobbying for this ability for quite a while - a clear argument might be made that the burdens placed by that one state outweigh the economies of scale that the auto industry needs to build vehicles affordably. But with 14 states all trying to boost their emissions standards together, this may be the equivalent of a national rollout of increased pressure to reduce our environmental impact.

On the upside, California and other states may now be able to really put pressure on the auto companies to increase their citizens’ ability to purchase attractive, affordable, lower-emissions vehicles. On the downside, the automakers will now face increased complexity in ensuring that they meet the appropriate standards on a state-by-state basis (assuming that they don’t simply adopt the most stringent standards as their norm). From the latest Detroit auto show, it appears that many new models are already in the pipeline featuring hybrid systems and plug-in electrical capabilities. The increase in demands on the power grid might need to be addressed in the near future, but for the time being we may be seeing a boost to power needs, a reduction in emissions, and some additional progress in advancing efficiency standards.