Share this
Twitter
Myspace
Digg
Del.icio.us
Reddit
Slashdot
Furl
Yahoo
Technorati
Newsvine
Facebook
Export PDF
Print
E-mail
Tags
New Jersey has received approval from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to establish greenhouse gas emissions standards for motor vehicles as part of a federal effort to prevent climate change, Gov. Jon Corzine announced Tuesday.
New Jersey is one of 14 states that have opted into California's program to tackle the threat of global warming with cleaner standards for motor vehicles. Under the federal Clean Air Act, California has the right to implement more stringent motor vehicle emissions standards than the federal limits, and other states have the right to adopt the California standards.
Tuesday, the EPA granted California's 2005 waiver request allowing all 14 states to move forward with new greenhouse gas standards for motor vehicles.
"We applaud the EPA for taking this action and recognizing the critical role that the states play in addressing the threat of global warming," Corzine said. "Now, New Jersey can move forward with implementation of these auto emissions standards which ultimately will help us reach our goal in reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 and provide more efficient cars on our roadways."The 14 states that have opted into the California program comprise more than 35 percent of vehicles on the road in the U.S.
In 2007, Corzine signed an executive order to mandate a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, and an 80-percent reduction by 2050, goals which he signed into law later that year with the Legislature's passage of the Global Warming Response Act. New Jersey became only the third state in the nation to codify its greenhouse gas reduction goals.
Just over a year ago, Corzine signed a bill into law enabling New Jersey to participate in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, the first mandatory cap-and-trade program in the nation for carbon dioxide.
– TOM HESTER SR., NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
