SUV Lobby Fight Emissions Law

SUVOA Airs Ads Against the Law in California

WASHINGTON, Feb. 13 -- Farmers, ranchers, small businesses, contractors, boaters, campers, RV owners and families are among the millions of SUV owners in California who will be adversely affected by a new law unless it is overturned, according to new advertisements by the SUV Owners of America (SUVOA), the first of which will be placed in the Wednesday, February 14 editions of the Sacramento, Modesto and Fresno Bee newspapers.

SUVOA Communications Director Ron DeFore said, "Our goal is to alert California consumers before it's too late. Like many laws passed with swell- sounding intentions and no public debate, years down the road there will be a great reckoning when the price tag and other consequences are felt. Hang on to your wallet because this one is going to cost you big time."

Known as AB 1493 when California passed it in 2002, the law is currently scheduled to take affect in model year 2009, just 18 months from now. If it is not repealed or overturned in the courts, the law will force higher prices for pick-ups, SUVs, vans and other light trucks.

DeFore explained that the law calls for aggressive new regulations to reduce CO2 emissions, and its provisions were included in legislation that had been stalled in the state Assembly because of lack of support. It was passed only after its supporters quietly amended AB 1493 to include the new regulation when the Senate was in a rare weekend session attempting to resolve an impasse over the 2002-2003 budget. There was no open debate or opportunity for public input.

"Supporters of this misguided regulation resorted to trickery to get it passed because they knew it was dead on arrival if it was the subject of more public awareness," DeFore said. "This law requires reductions in carbon dioxide --a greenhouse gas but not a pollutant -- so theoretically it's supposed to reduce global warming. This is absurd. Even if you were to eliminate all vehicles in California it would reduce worldwide greenhouse gases by only one tenth of one percent, so this law will have no effect on global temperatures and deliver absolutely no health benefits to Californians at a huge cost."

"With this law, Californians will wake up one day and wonder, 'How could people who supposedly represent us have passed something like this that costs us an arm and a leg and killed off the vehicles we need for our families, businesses and outdoor fun?'"

SUVOA is working to repeal this law, and its new advertisements are the beginning of a long-term effort to protect the interests of people who rely on pick-ups, vans, SUVs and other light trucks.