Sierra Club California is appealing to its members to take action for zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs). Sierra Club is one of the large environmental organizations that have been quite active federally and at the state level as government wrestles with automotive and emissions policies. Its involvement in the California debate is significant.

The ZEV Program of the California Air Resources Board (CARB) resulted in thousands of electric cars on the roads of California from 1997 through 2003. Revisions to the program in 2003 reduced dramatically the numbers of ZEVs required of automakers in the near term.

Carmakers promised time would allow alternative zero-emission technology to become commercializable. As we mentioned a bit yesterday, the 2003 revision permitted carmakers to follow their chosen path, and therefore didn't require higher numbers for more than a decade. Now the promised 25,000 ZEVs in the 2014-2017 period are within view. And CARB staff is advocating that that number be slashed by 90 percent. Sierra Club California believes that CARB should hold automakers to their 2003 commitment.

This is not a narrow California concern. As Sierra Club states in its Action Alert, "California is the only state allowed under the Clean Air Act to set tougher limits on vehicle emissions than federal regulations. Other states can choose to follow California's standards, and at least 10 states hope to do so. The CARB vote has national implications."

The Board is set to vote on March 27.

Plug in America is calling on Governor Schwarzenegger to "live up to his vow to turn back the clock on pollution" by reviving the historic ZEV (Zero Emissions Vehicle) program. How did they do it? The got people from 45 states and 13 countries, as well as few celebrities, to fax a letter to him asking to remove a million cars from roads, or replacing them by EVs.

On March 27, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) is voting to revise its ZEV program. The program once proudly called for 10 percent of all vehicles sold in California to be zero emission and resulted in thousands of electric vehicles on the road. The revision, however, "will profoundly weaken the program again instead of propelling our country toward a pollution-free future," Plug In America's letter states. Instead of the 10 percent mandate, the proposal would merely require each of America's major automakers to produce about 150 ZEVs per year through 2015. This is fewer than the number required under the mandate when the electric car was killed the first time in 2003, according to Plug In America Executive Director Chelsea Sexton.

Plug In America's letter also is signed by "Who Killed the Electric Car?" director Chris Paine. He will be filming the air board's March 27 vote for his sequel, "Who Saved the Electric Car."

[Source: Plug-in America]

As we've discussed here before, one of the issues with cutting emissions - whether they are greenhouse or noxious gases - is the number of older vehicles still on the road. The number of new cleaner vehicles added every year is dwarfed by the number of existing vehicles which may stay on the road for 15-20 years or more. Getting a rapid reduction in emissions would be helped a lot if all those old vehicles could be retired. The California Air Resources Board has proposed spending up to $25 million to help accelerate this process. The agency wants to use the money to either replace or retrofit nearly 800 trucks operating in Southern California, the Central Valley and the San Francisco Bay area. The focus is on cleaning up trucks that are moving goods from ports to other areas of the state where the emissions from those trucks are affecting a large area.

[Source: California Air Resources Board, via Green Car Congress]

Mary Nichols, chairperson of the California Air Resources Board, gave what was billed as a keynots address at the Santa Monica Alt Car Expo yesterday. Big name for a half-hour talk on the future of green vehicles in California. Nichols said that the forseeable end points for CARB are two powertrain types: pure electric and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. The reason that what CARB sees as the future is important beyond the borders of California is that so many other states look to the Golden State for not only inspiration but also laws. We know about the handful of states that have already adopted California's clean car laws, but Nichols said that even more states (Utah, anyone?) are looking to join the parade.

One of Nichols' big campaigns right now is the Drive Clean California campaign, part of CARB's expanded mission to get people to drive cleaner. Working with manufacturers, even as they fight with CARB over some issues in the courts, Drive Clean California is an expanded public outreach program. CARB will be going to health events in California and debuting an "environmental performance" label, starting with the 2008 model year vehicles. This label, in addition to the PZEV or ZEV badges, will rate each vehicle on a score of one to 10 on that vehicle's smog and global warming impact on that vehicle.

Nichols herself admits that her talk wasn't the most exciting part of the Alt Car Expo, but if you're interested in a peek into the future of green car legislation and implementation in the US, this talk is well worth your 25 minutes. Listen to the MP3 here.