LOS ANGELES - New regulations adopted by the California Air Resources Board (ARB) will require automobile manufacturers to label their vehicles' smog and greenhouse gas emission characteristics. The label will allow consumers to consider and compare a vehicle's environmental impacts.

"This simple tool will empower consumers to choose vehicles that help the environment," said ARB Chairman, Dr. Robert F. Sawyer. "Most Californians recognize climate change as a very serious problem. This label will help consumers make informed choices."

Californians purchase approximately 2 million new vehicles each year. The 25 million vehicles on our roads travel about 900 million miles each day. Daily, this produces 2,288 tons of smog precursor emissions and 350,000 tons of global warming gas emissions. California's Smog Index Label has been required on new vehicles since the 1998 model year. The label was intended to help consumers compare the smog forming emissions from different vehicles within that model year. A law signed by Gov. Schwarzenegger now requires ARB to include information about emissions of global warming gases. This new label will be affixed to the window of every new car sold in California beginning in 2009.

Staff Report