US ruling may give power to cut car emissions
AUSTRALIAN green groups have welcomed a US Supreme Court ruling clearing the way for governments to regulate the greenhouse gas emissions produced by the car manufacturing industry.
The ruling could have implications for Australia before the end of this decade, said the Total Environment Centre spokesman, Jeff Angel.
"We don't do anything like that at the moment," Mr Angel said. "Emission controls on vehicles are governed by the Australian Transport Council, where all the state and federal ministers discuss what controls to mandate for Australia. Clearly that national body of ministers will keep a very close eye on the American development."
A spokesman for the federal Roads Minister, Jim Lloyd, said car manufacturers in Australia were restricted by the Australian design rules number 79 and 80, which control levels of emissions, including carbon dioxide.
But a NSW Environment Protection Authority spokesman, John Dengate, said those rules mainly covered emissions dangerous to human health, such as carbon monoxide.
"It's reasonable to say that process has focused on the toxic emissions," Mr Dengate said.
The US case arose after 12 states, including Massachusetts and California, sued the Bush Administration because its environmental protection agency refused to take action on greenhouse gases.
The Administration, allied with car makers, argued that federal officials did not have the power to set limits on emissions, after some states had tried to do so.
In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled greenhouse gases were air pollutants and that the environment protection authority had the right to regulate their emission from new cars.
Mr Angel called the US ruling the first major step in the car industry "having to come to grips with the climate change implications of the cars they design".
He called on the Australian Transport Council to write up an action plan and new technical requirements for car manufacturers that would lead to limiting emissions from new cars.
Greenpeace Australia's energy campaigner, Catherine Fitzpatrick, told ABC radio yesterday the US ruling was very significant.
"When you get the world's largest polluter of greenhouse gas emissions having their Supreme Court rule that greenhouse gases need to be take into account and possibly regulated, then it's a loud signal to the rest of the world, not just to the US, but to many countries around the world," Ms Fitzpatrick said.
"In Australia there's no federal regulation to limit CO