Air Resources Board considers alternative to GHG emission limits for vehicles

Although the conventional wisdom is that the Obama Administration, unlike the Bush Administration, will approve California's request to be able to regulate GHG emissions from vehicles under the Clean Air Act (CAA), the California Air Resources Board has considered what it could do to effect the same change if the CAA waiver request is not approved. The proposal at the forefront of the options is called the "feebate" program. Basically, buyers of vehicles that emit high levels of GHGs would pay increased registration fees that reflect the volume of those emissions. These moneys would be used to provide rebates to buyers of vehicles with less GHG emissions. More information on this concept can be found at http://www.arb.ca.gov/research/econprog/feebates/feebates.htm.