Auto Alliance cautions Colorado governor about imposing California-level emission standards

WASHINGTON, PRNewswire -- Gov. John Hickenlooper signed an executive order that commits Colorado to adopting California's low emission vehicle (LEV) standards. In response to this development, the Auto Alliance released the following statement:

"A poll conducted last week by the Auto Alliance showed that a majority (61 percent) of Coloradans are opposed to the state fuel efficiency standards being dictated by California. And that makes sense because Colorado is already a national leader in sales of low emission vehicles. Importing California's standards could saddle Coloradans with a huge financial burden without providing any additional contributions to the environment.

"As it stands now, Coloradans may be looking at the kind of high gas prices that Californians pay to purchase carbon neutral fuel. If state regulators and policymakers move forward with adopting California's standards on zero emission vehicles, Coloradans would be looking at paying millions, if not billions, of dollars to create the kind of infrastructure that would encourage people to buy these vehicles. Moreover, under the California program, there could be a significant reduction in the choice of vehicles for Coloradans, particularly when it comes to trucks and other large vehicles.

"We hope that state regulators and legislators will reverse course on this issue and implement the kind of standards that work for Coloradans."

A leading advocacy group for the auto industry, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers represents more than 70 percent of all car and light truck sales in the United States, including the BMW Group, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Ford Motor Company, Jaguar Land Rover, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz USA, Mitsubishi Motors, Porsche, Toyota, Volkswagen Group of America, and Volvo Car USA.