After blog ruckus, CARB cools paint mandate

摘要

To the relief of automotive paint suppliers and auto makers, the California Air Resources Board has announced it is shelving for now its controversial plan to mandate the phase-in of heat-reflecting paints. The regulation would have required use of the new paints on vehicles beginning with the '12 model year, with all colors meeting a 20% reflectivity requirement by '16. The CARB measure was aimed at reducing carbon-dioxide emissions and improving fuel economy by keeping vehicles cooler on sunny days and decreasing the amount of time drivers use air conditioners. However, sources at automotive paint and pigment suppliers tell Ward's the proposed rules would have been impossible to meet, because they were drafted without adequate research on what is technologically feasible.