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CNN Live Sunday

GM, Chrysler Drop Lawsuits In California

Aired August 17, 2003 - 16:34   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


FREDERICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: California has had its share of energy problems, but efforts to tackle one of its biggest worries, cleaning up the air, may soon be moving forward again especially now that automakers have dropped lawsuits which were delaying the state's clean air initiative. Jerry Martin with California's Air Resources Board is on the telephone with us from Sacramento. Mr. Martin, glad you could join us.
JERRY MARTIN, CALIFORNIA AIR RESOURCES BOARD (via telephone): Thank you.

WHITFIELD: That GM and Daimler Chrysler have dropped the lawsuits, what does this mean?

MARTIN: Well, what it means for California is that the Air Resources Board can now implement rules that will allow the cleanest cars on the earth to be on California's roads.

WHITFIELD: California is one of the countries that has the worst conditions, among the worst conditions of exhaust and smog there, the air is just not as clean as many Californians would like it to be. Need heavier restrictions be placed state by state, or should it be federal legislation that would apply to all states across the board?

MARTIN: Well, the federal law right now only allows Californians to set separate standards from the federal government. That's because we were setting standards for cars before the federal government even began in that business. So we were allowed to continue doing that. Roughly three quarters of all the health-threatening smog in the U.S. occurs in California.

WHITFIELD: Well, most car builders are trying to come up with a cleaner more efficient car. How might this encourage low or zero emission automobiles?

MARTIN: The Air Resources Board, the California Air Resources Board, adopted a rule in 1990 that required a certain number of vehicles to be at that time zero emissions, which meant no emissions from the tailpipe. Over the years the rule has evolved, and hybrid vehicles and low-emission vehicles are largely the results of those rules. They've been held up in court as a result of a lawsuit. And that lawsuit now being dropped allows us to implement that rule and get those cars on the road.

WHITFIELD: If there's a greater push to have low or zero- emission vehicles on the road, whether it be in California or across the board in other states, what would that mean for so many people? The millions of people who have their regular gas-powered vehicles, non- hybrid type vehicles, that perhaps wouldn't fall under the category of low emissions.

MARTIN: Well, one of the changes that occurred in the rules over the years is the air resources board has taken advantage of technologies that car companies have come up with to actually clean up cars and close the distance, if you will, between the average car and what a zero emissions vehicle will emit.

The result of that is the air resources board has already certified 12 models of vehicles, things like the Ford Focus, the Nissan Sentra, Volkswagen Jetta, BMW 325s, Hondas, and Toyotas, and others that are actually very clean. They are economical vehicles to operate and economical to purchase. And they're warranted for 150,000 miles. Those vehicles are not absolute zero, but they certainly spell the future for many car buyers in California.

By the year 2012 they'll be about 3 1/2 million of them on California roads.

WHITFIELD: All right, Jerry Martin of the California air resources board. Thanks for joining us from Sacramento.

MARTIN: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired August 17, 2003 - 16:34   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDERICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: California has had its share of energy problems, but efforts to tackle one of its biggest worries, cleaning up the air, may soon be moving forward again especially now that automakers have dropped lawsuits which were delaying the state's clean air initiative. Jerry Martin with California's Air Resources Board is on the telephone with us from Sacramento. Mr. Martin, glad you could join us.
JERRY MARTIN, CALIFORNIA AIR RESOURCES BOARD (via telephone): Thank you.

WHITFIELD: That GM and Daimler Chrysler have dropped the lawsuits, what does this mean?

MARTIN: Well, what it means for California is that the Air Resources Board can now implement rules that will allow the cleanest cars on the earth to be on California's roads.

WHITFIELD: California is one of the countries that has the worst conditions, among the worst conditions of exhaust and smog there, the air is just not as clean as many Californians would like it to be. Need heavier restrictions be placed state by state, or should it be federal legislation that would apply to all states across the board?

MARTIN: Well, the federal law right now only allows Californians to set separate standards from the federal government. That's because we were setting standards for cars before the federal government even began in that business. So we were allowed to continue doing that. Roughly three quarters of all the health-threatening smog in the U.S. occurs in California.

WHITFIELD: Well, most car builders are trying to come up with a cleaner more efficient car. How might this encourage low or zero emission automobiles?

MARTIN: The Air Resources Board, the California Air Resources Board, adopted a rule in 1990 that required a certain number of vehicles to be at that time zero emissions, which meant no emissions from the tailpipe. Over the years the rule has evolved, and hybrid vehicles and low-emission vehicles are largely the results of those rules. They've been held up in court as a result of a lawsuit. And that lawsuit now being dropped allows us to implement that rule and get those cars on the road.

WHITFIELD: If there's a greater push to have low or zero- emission vehicles on the road, whether it be in California or across the board in other states, what would that mean for so many people? The millions of people who have their regular gas-powered vehicles, non- hybrid type vehicles, that perhaps wouldn't fall under the category of low emissions.

MARTIN: Well, one of the changes that occurred in the rules over the years is the air resources board has taken advantage of technologies that car companies have come up with to actually clean up cars and close the distance, if you will, between the average car and what a zero emissions vehicle will emit.

The result of that is the air resources board has already certified 12 models of vehicles, things like the Ford Focus, the Nissan Sentra, Volkswagen Jetta, BMW 325s, Hondas, and Toyotas, and others that are actually very clean. They are economical vehicles to operate and economical to purchase. And they're warranted for 150,000 miles. Those vehicles are not absolute zero, but they certainly spell the future for many car buyers in California.

By the year 2012 they'll be about 3 1/2 million of them on California roads.

WHITFIELD: All right, Jerry Martin of the California air resources board. Thanks for joining us from Sacramento.

MARTIN: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com