Statement of Elizabeth Ouzts, NCPIRG Director
As the new home of NCPIRG's environmental work,
Environment North Carolina can be contacted with any questions regarding this
news release.
The
Senate-passed version of H1308, approved by the House today, is good
news and bad news for public health in North Carolina. (The governor
later signed the bill into law on Aug. 15.)
The
good news is that Senate lawmakers locked in a clean fuel standard for
North Carolina, rejecting an industry-proposed loophole that would
allow the state to fall back on a less-stringent federal standard after
2006. By locking in the North Carolina clean gasoline standard,
lawmakers ensured that smog-forming pollution would be reduced by as
much as 15 percent in 2006, regardless of federal action.
The
bad news is that North Carolina will not have a clean fuel standard
beginning in 2004. Evidence from both the petroleum industry and the
U.S. EPA suggest that refiners could supply low-sulfur gasoline in 2004
without price spikes or supply shortages. Unfortunately, however,
federal law ties the hands of North Carolina, effectively prohibiting
the state from enforcing the low-sulfur fuel standards ahead of a
less-aggressive federal schedule.
Securing
the low-sulfur fuel standard into law is an important step in cleaning
up automobile pollution for the long term. But with cars, trucks, and
buses contributing to nearly half of the state's smog-forming pollution
and 40 percent of airborne toxic emissions, we still have a long way to
go. We urge lawmakers to continue to take measures to reduce smog and
toxic emissions from the tailpipe.
