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Clean Florida's Air With New Rules

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 25, 2008

Environmentalists and the automobile industry are scrambling to make their case to the Florida Environmental Regulation Commission, which Wednesday is considering tougher emissions and fuel-efficiency standards for vehicles.
Vehicle emissions contribute more than a third of greenhouse emissions. The new standards have been endorsed by Gov. Charlie Crist, as part of his effort to address climate change. Similar rules have been approved in California.

But regardless of how one feels about the threat of climate change, reducing emissions will dramatically clean the air, and protect both the public health and Florida's ambience. And making cars more efficient will help the nation become more energy independent.

The industry claims the emissions standards will increase the cost of a car, by as much as $4,000. Supporters of the change say those numbers are highly inflated, that it's likely to be somewhere from $92 to $670 per vehicle, a cost that will be readily recovered through the additional efficiency. Even with the automobile industry's numbers, proponents of the cleanup say car owners would recover the cost over the life of the car.

There is some reason to be skeptical about the industry's claims. It made similar chicken-little claims about seatbelts, air bags and other features that greatly improved American cars without great costs. Its resistance to change, particularly energy-efficient innovations, has contributed to the decline of the American automobile industry.

That doesn't mean the industry's objections should be dismissed out of hand.

The state Legislature must give final approval to whatever rule the ERC proposes. So there will be time to further debate the countering claims and review cost-benefit studies before the state actually commits to the standards.

But there is no reason for the ERC to be timid now. It should go with the rules that furnish Florida and its citizens the greatest protections.

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