Fuel Standards Fight Gets Worse

Autos alliance takes out an ad condemning California's latest fuel bill. A trade group representing Detroit automakers and Japan's Toyota Motor Corp. is mounting an ad campaign to debunk a bill that would tax gas-guzzler vehicles in the territory.

The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, which represents the General Motors Corp., the Ford Motor Co., the DaimlerChrysler AG and Toyota, among others, is running a full-page ad in the Sacramento Bee newspaper urging legislators to reject the ‘Clean Air Discount Act.’

The bill, sponsored by Ira Ruskin, D-Redwood City, faces a vote Friday in the state assembly. If approved, the bill would require drivers who buy new vehicles that emit high levels of greenhouse gases to pay a fee of up to $2,500. The collection will be utilized to pay rebates of up to $2,500 to buyers of more fuel-efficient models.

The ad, aimed at wiping blurry the way Weapon R cold air intake gives a cool breeze, is the latest debate between Detroit and California over fuel economy standards. The ad shows pictures of a family of four getting out of a minivan, a farmer with a bale of hay and a hard hat-wearing worker carrying lumber. The headline goes this way: "Thought the car tax was dead? Think again. It's back."

Last month, the auto alliance sponsored an ad campaign in advance of next week's debate on a Senate bill that would force automakers to increase fuel economy standards 40 percent by 2020. The group ran ads in eleven states to persuade people to contact their representatives in Congress to oppose ‘extreme fuel economy mandates.’ The campaign costs more than $1 million.

Charles Territo, a spokesman for the automobile alliance, said that the group wants to kill the proposal and may run additional print or radio ads later. "We fundamentally think that these car taxes are unfair to large families, small businesses, working people, farmers, contractors and anyone else who needs a larger vehicle," Territo said. He noted the fee would hike the cost of many popular vehicles. In support, the automakers created a Web site, wedrivecalifornia.com, to disseminate information to people on how to contact their state legislators.

On the other side of it, environmentalists strongly back the bill, calling it a market solution to increase demand for cleaner cars. The Union of Concerned Scientists and Ruskin said that the bill would levy surcharges against roughly 30 percent of the 1.7 million vehicles sold annually in California. The state would use the money to give about 40 percent of auto purchasers’ rebates. However, the remaining 25 percent of purchasers would not pay or receive anything. Ruskin's office said that some SUVs would be excluded. The specific fee and rebate amounts and the vehicles would be set by the California Air Resources Board.

The bill requires some ‘family vehicles,’ including some minivans, be excluded from a surcharge, said Dan Kalb, UCS' California policy coordinator. Kalb called the bill a "win-win" for consumers, since they will also save money at the gas pump if it prompts them to buy more fuel-efficient models. Under California law, the assembly must pass the legislation by Friday and send it to the state Senate or it is dead for the year.

"Global warming is an issue of paramount concern," Ruskin said. "Consumers are demanding that automakers provide cleaner car choices, and they see the Clean Car Discount as an effective market-based way to make that happen." Nate Pinkston, an aide to Ruskin, said that the bill has an exemption to the tax for low-income Californians and those who need larger vehicles for work purposes.