CARB chairman defends clean-diesel options, 'zero-emissions' goal

Diesel Fuel News, Dec 9, 2002

Having been criticized in the Los Angeles Times for defending the notion that perhaps ultra-clean diesels could help reduce "global warming" threats, California Air Resources Board chairman Allan Lloyd says critics have "misconstrued" his statements (see Diesel Fuel News 10/28/02, p1). "I have not chosen diesel or any other fuel as the solution to California's smog problems," Lloyd said in a letter-to-the-editor published in the Times last month.

Rather, CARB's "goal for the future of California's passenger vehicles remains unchanged: zero emissions -- whether that is achieved by fuel cells, batteries or other technology." As for whether automakers can achieve CARB's very tough "LEV-2" emissions standards for diesel cars that begin in 2004, "only time will tell if the manufacturers can meet that challenge," Lloyd said in his letter.