As U.S. allows higher auto emissions, Canada is at a fuel-efficiency crossroads GlobeBusiness
The federal government has started to give away money to encourage people to buy electric cars, but before long it will have to decide how far it will go to force the market towards lower-emission vehicles.
Canada has matched U.S. standards since 2011, and will have to decide whether to match new U.S. requirements expected to be announced in late spring or early summer, or to align itself with California and other states that have vowed to maintain the current standards. “Canada is looking at following the actions of California and other like-minded U.S. states as we move forward on Canada’s mid-term evaluation,” Environment and Climate Change spokesman Mark Johnson wrote in an email.A decision on whether to maintain the standards, which call for making cars about five per cent more efficient per year, and light trucks 3.5 per cent and later five per cent per year, will come as Canadians increasingly buy larger, heavier vehicles.
“The bulk of the emissions reductions that we’re getting from those vehicle regulations are from models years 2020 going forward, because of specific technological developments and because the regulations are getting a lot more stringent.” He said member companies, which includes Ford, General Motors, and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, believe the higher up-front costs of lower-emission vehicles would actually slow uptake of new vehicles that are already more efficient.
“Unless that regulation is there to ensure that the next model year is even more fuel efficient, we’re going to be missing in terms of big emissions gains from the fleet turnover that happens naturally as people replace their older vehicles.”Story continues below advertisement
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