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Ritter's car ideas get some validation
Obama proposals close to those eyed in Denver
Herald Denver Bureau
Ritter
And while Ritter offered praise for the Obama plan, he stopped short of calling off Colorado's own effort to address auto pollution.
Ritter directed the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to start drafting a clean-car rule in April 2008. But the Bush administration blocked Colorado and other states that wanted their own rules, and Colorado's rulemaking is not under way, said CDPHE spokesman Mark Salley.
Colorado environmentalists and auto dealers applauded the Obama rule, to varying degrees.
"I'm really excited today," said Keith Hay of Environment Colorado. "Clearly, President Obama has put the pedal to the metal when it comes to a green economic recovery."
The Obama rule is exactly what Colorado environmentalists wanted out of the Ritter administration, Hay said.
Car dealers see good and bad in the new rule, said Tim Jackson, president of the Colorado Automobile Dealers Association.
"To the extent that this is a national standard, this is going to be very good for the industry," he said.
On the other hand, Jackson said, the average cost of a new car probably will increase by $1,300.
Ritter agreed the national standard is preferable to ones that vary by state.
"President Obama's historic agreement to reduce automobile emissions and increase fuel efficiency will help transition America to a clean energy economy and a new energy future," Ritter said in a news release.
However, the governor did not say whether he would rescind the executive order that called for Colorado's rulemaking. His spokesman, Evan Dreyer, did not return calls or an e-mail.
Jackson's group fought Ritter's plan to write a Colorado car pollution rule, because the auto industry didn't want a patchwork of standards for different states or even cities.
Automakers will continue to build the fuel-inefficient trucks and sport utility vehicles, Jackson said. But in order to raise the average fuel efficiency of all the vehicles they build, they will have to cut deals for buyers of small, efficient cars and make the big gas-hogs more expensive. Some people still will need larger trucks and SUVs, Jackson said.
"They're really going to be the ones to pay the brunt of it," he said.
The national standard Obama announced requires an overall fleet average of 35.5 mpg by 2016. Passenger cars would have to get 39 mpg and light trucks 30 mpg. For the first time, greenhouse-gas emissions from autos would be reduced - by 30 percent in 2016.
California and 13 other states already had adopted a similar standard, but the Environmental Protection Agency blocked them during the Bush administration. Colorado was not among those 14 states, but under Ritter's direction, it might have joined them. Ritter's executive order did not specify the exact improvements he sought in fuel efficiency and pollution standards.
jhanel@durangoherald.comThe Associated Press contributed to this article.
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