From the new World Media Watch up now at
http://www.zianet.com/insightanalyticalTomorrow at Buzzflash.com
4//The Independent, UK 19 November 2004
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=584367 AGE OF GREEN CARS ARRIVES AS CANADIANS CUT EMISSIONS
By David Usborne in New York
Cars that are environmentally friendly may be coming to drivers in North America faster than anyone expected after the Canadian government pledged this week to a dramatic 25 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from all vehicles sold inside its borders by the end of the decade.
In so doing, Canada is joining California and seven north-eastern US states, including New Jersey and New York, in seeking to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which means the stricter limits will eventually apply to about one third of the North American car market. This should be enough to ensure that the entire North American market is governed by the standards within a few years.
The pledge from Ottawa will add to the pressure on the North American automotive industry to develop vehicles that meet higher emission standards of gases such as methane and carbon dioxide. About a third of the greenhouse gas emissions thought to contribute to global warming in the US come from motor vehicles.
"We're very clear where we want to go," John Efford, Canada's Natural Resources minister, told The New York Times yesterday. "Twenty-five per cent is our goal and the auto industry clearly understands that."
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