‘Clean’ vehicle quotas debated in Augusta

AUGUSTA – Gasoline-electric hybrid cars and other “clean” low-emission vehicles are popular among Maine consumers, but a formal quota on the sale of these vehicles proved controversial at a hearing before legislators Tuesday.

The Department of Environmental Protection has proposed joining six other New England states and California in a “zero-emission” program, requiring that 10 percent of all vehicles sold meet a strict emissions standard. If lawmakers approve the rule for Maine it would take effect with model year 2009.

Most of Maine’s environmental and public health organizations came out in support of the plan, citing southern Maine’s recent inability to comply with federal air quality rules.

“To put it simply, cleaner cars means cleaner air,” said Matthew Davis of Environment Maine.

Thirty-one models of standard gasoline cars and trucks, including best-selling sedans and wagons, already meet the “clean” threshold, said Sue Jones of the Natural Resources Council of Maine.

“This is not pie in the sky. This is not futuristic,” she said. “By 2009, we hope there might be 60, 70, 80 models available.”

In Maine today, several models of hybrids are available, but so popular that buyers face a three- to six-month wait. Proponents of the zero-emission program predicted that a quota would force automakers to send those cars to Maine lots.

However, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers called the goals unrealistic, citing Mainers’ predilection for pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles (which make up more than 60 percent of the market), and the difficulty of applying hybrid technology to larger vehicles.

“Everybody is working on it … there are problems for the engineering, and the performance,” said Cass Anbury of the automakers alliance.

A Ford spokeswoman also questioned the value of implementing the sales quotas in Maine, where a great deal of air pollution drifts from out-of-state on the prevailing winds.

In written testimony, Adam Lee, who sells hybrids at his family’s Lee Auto Malls in central and southern Maine, compared carmakers’ resistance to emission control to the initial opposition to safety advancements such as seat belts, air bags and anti-lock brakes.

“The auto manufacturers have a long history of crying financial ruin,” he said.

A work session on LD 1465 has been scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Friday, April 22, in Room 214 of the Cross State Office Building.