Toyota is suing to block global warming law

This is interesting to watch from our side of the pond.

One effect of the EU over here has been harmonisation of standards for all sorts of things, including cars. Basically, individual European countries are generally no longer allowed to have stricter standards on goods that would act as barriers to intra-European trade.

So, for example, the UK used to require cars to have a dim-dip headlights feature (if the headlight switch is set to the "parking lights" position when the car is running then the headlights come on dipped, at half intensity). But the EU ruled that requirement to be illegal.

Instead the EU itself now sets harmonised standards that apply to all member states. If a product meets the EU-wide standard, then it must be accepted by any EU country. But on the other hand, the EU appears to be much better at enacting consumer-protecting legislation than the US, so the standards are generally quite strict. It doesn't seem to be as much in the thrall of big business. Yet.

Mind you, there's nothing stopping individual states having their own car tax regimes that penalise more polluting cars. In the UK all car taxes are based on the amount of CO2 generated per kilometre.

 

KMO:

What a remarkably sensible idea: taxed based on CO2 per km.

In North America, a pickup truck or giant SUV can be ranked as "Low Emission Vehicle" even if it only averages 12 MPG. This is due to a tiered approach to vehicles, where size DOES matter. In the opposite way though, bigger is better, as the standards are more relaxed.

I have no problem with somebody buying a giant SUV. I just don't want them whining about the high cost of fuel.

I can only imagine what the tax would be in EU on something like an SUV.

 

actually the vikings named greenland so to fool others into going there while they kept iceland for themselves.

the naming had nothing to do with the actual climates of either place.

i knew about Toyota's resistance to this accord and it doesnt have anything to do with their position on global warming as Evan has suggested.

they are all for reducing emissions but they feel that what is suggested will stifle innovation and money into research instead of encouraging it.

as i understand it, Toyota has already exceeded the proposed polution limits for 2009 today, so it would be a non-issue for them anyway.

 

Still seems a bit schizophrenic. Toyota have been lobbying the EU to tighten up regulations on emissions from diesel vehicles.

And it just so happens they've got some rather nifty particulate filter and catalyst systems available to license that would meet the emissions limits they're lobbying for...