[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 103 (Thursday, July 25, 2002)]
[House]
[Page H5460]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            CALIFORNIA SETS THE STANDARD FOR AUTO EMISSIONS

  (Ms. SANCHEZ asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, on Monday, California set a revolutionary 
precedent in the effort to curb carbon pollution and greenhouse gases. 
Governor Gray Davis signed into law legislation that will for the first 
time reduce the amount of emissions coming from the tailpipes of all 
passenger vehicles sold in the State of California.
  Carbon dioxide is one of the main contributors to global warming, and 
59 percent of California's carbon dioxide comes from vehicle pollution. 
With this law, California joins a longstanding and successful effort by 
nations throughout the world to combat the gradual and the devastating 
warming of the earth's atmosphere.
  I want to commend the California State legislators, agencies, 
environmentalists, and organizations from all over the country for 
coming together in the tireless effort to see that this initiative 
becomes law in California.
  Once again, California is at the forefront of environmental 
protection, and I hope that the rest of the Nation will look to this 
new law as the standard when adopting their own air quality priorities.

                          ____________________