at least not in CA. The Air Quality Control Board is suggesting that you can’t own a black vehicle under the assumption that black cars are hotter causing you to run your A/C more.
I have several problems with this. First, and foremost it is utter and complete unsupported bullshit. Second, this is a board of unelected officials making defacto laws. You can’t throw them out in an election.
This is the same board that is mandating gas stations to upgrade their gas pump nozzles to the tune of $50-100K per station with some recovery systems that is supposed to save 1% on emissions during fueling. That assumes the consumer doesen’t pull back the nozzle thingie to make it work right and let all the emissions out anyway.
So you CA liberals, go get that sexxy black Volvo now!
Come on, what’s the problem? No one really needs a black car anyway. There are plenty of other *approved *colors to choose from!
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If I hadn’t heard this earlier, I’d have accused you of making it up…
I would normally make a comment like “only in California”, but after recent events at the national level, I’m not sure that I can say that anymore.
Meh, I doubt this will pass. The ARB has already been looking to cut GHG emissions from cars and found that swapping to a CO2 based A/C system would probably be the most beneficial method to reduce automobile emissions. CO2 based systems have already been implemented in a number of places – primarily Europe and is said to reduce the amount of GHG emissions quite a bit. My guess is that they’ll push for the newer A/C systems before trying to implement some kind of paint standard.
The vapor recovery systems have actually been proven to be important. For a state that constantly exceeds the NAAQS for ozone and PM2.5, reducing fugitive VOC emissions is paramount. Granted most of CA is NOx limited so reducing VOC emissions won’t reduce Ozone but it may reduce secondary PM formation and also has other quality of life benefits (health impacts, visibility, etc.).
For what it’s worth, much of the low-hanging fruit in terms of emissions reduction strategies have already been picked so they’re probably just evaluating some of the more obscure avenues to air quality control.
I would normally make a comment like “only in California”, but after recent events at the national level, I’m not sure that I can say that anymore.
No, a more appropriate statement would be: “only in America”.
…The land of the free and the home of the retarded…(sorry if that’s not “politically correct”)
SPINOFF: A black car heats up faster than an identical white car. (From Pilot 2)
confirmed
A fan wrote in and asked a follow up question: “Does the color of a car affect the way it heats up?”. The MythBusters used two identical cars, one black the other white and left them both out in the summer heat with thermometers in both. By mid-afternoon the black car had heated up to a temperature of 135 °F while the white car topped off at 126 °F, almost 10 degrees cooler.
I love my state. It makes me proud to pay my taxes.
FWIW, I have a black car. I didn’t want it because it never looks clean, but since I was buying it used (Some dimwit turned it in after 4000 miles) I got a great deal. I almost never use the car AC. If I’m moving, the sunroof is open. The noise doesn’t bother me. BUFF’s, B1’s, and FB-111’s ruined my hearing.
ssshhhh…don’t say you drive around with your sunroof open. Next thing you know, or lovely state will ban cars with windows or sunroofs because they might impact gas mileage at some speeds.
But wait, if they do that - then we will have to run the AC more…oh, hell with it, just ban cars altogether and give us those fancy golf carts that were purchased as part of the stimulus bill!
A few weeks ago I was on here ranting that environmentalism is the new communism. People accused me of being extreme in my perspective.
Ironic how your story illustrates my viewpoint so perfectly.
People don’t understand that when one thing is allowed to be taken, within a short timeframe, everything will be taken. And so today one cannot drive a black car. Tomorrow will reveal yet another freedom of choice to be stolen by the “environmentalists”.
On a side note, does this mean government cars would not be allowed to be black as well? Just curious if the elite would be privy to freedoms that “everyday people” aren’t…
What happens to the vapor recovery when people pull the black thing back so the system will actually work and let all the vapors out?
What happens to the small business owner that does not have $50-100K to spend on this - something that will not bring him a dime more in revenue?
exactly. god. i’m going to totally unplug on this stuff, it’s enough to make my head explode.
What about all those white-furred polar bears? By reflecting light, the fur forces them to maintain a higher metabolism in order to keep warm, which causes them to exhale more CO2. In order to reduce their carbon footprint, the government should pass a law requiring them to undergo a black-fur retrofit.
Oops, some statist might take that idea seriously–better add an emoticon…
What about all those white-furred polar bears? By reflecting light, the fur forces them to maintain a higher metabolism in order to keep warm, which causes them to exhale more CO2. In order to reduce their carbon footprint, the government should pass a law requiring them to undergo a black-fur retrofit.
Oops, some statist might take that idea seriously–better add an emoticon…
I’ve had lots of cars in my lifetime, and my n=1 observation is that interior color is more important than exterior. I’d rather have black over tan, than white over black any day, and I’ve mostly lived in southern climes.
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