California defies Bush with drive on global warming

California became the first US state yesterday to link car emissions directly to global warming, under pioneering legislation that could eventually enact far-reaching change across the country.

While the Bush administration in Washington continues to oppose a worldwide treaty to reduce greenhouse gases, California's new law – passed in the state assembly by just one vote after a bruising battle with car-industry lobbyists – strikes out in the opposite direction, promising to cut greenhouse-related emissions by regulating every aspect of vehicle production.

The areas being examined include lower-friction tyre treads, less polluting coolants in air-conditioning systems and cleaner exhaust fumes.

Under the law, signed yesterday by California's Democratic governor, Gray Davis, state regulators will spend the next three years finalising new production rules. The first vehicles designed to their specifications will be available no later than 2009.

"Most scientists ... believe global warming is no longer theory – it is a scientific reality. And the scientific community believes it is urgent that we act," Mr Davis said as he announced his intention to sign the bill over the weekend.

Earlier this year, the car industry launched a furious campaign to oppose the bill and Mr Davis – well known as a willing recipient of corporate campaign contributions – sat out the debate without indicating his support either way.

The result was a huge and unexpected victory for the environmental movement, a victory Mr Davis has now seized on as a powerful weapon to fight his Republican challenger for the governorship in this November's elections. He is also using it as a platform for attacking the White House.

Various opinion polls show that at least 75 per cent of Californians are in favour of the legislation – particularly in cities such as Los Angeles, where the smog level has been significantly reduced in recent years by previous legislation regulating exhaust emissions.

The car industry argues that the standards will impose extra production costs, raise prices for consumers and force people into smaller cars than they would want.

Proponents of the bill, however, point to California's long history of pioneering legislation in the field, which was responsible for introducing the world to air bags, catalytic converters and unleaded petrol. They say that every one of these measures has ended up improving economic efficiency for producers and consumers.

Manufacturers are concerned partly because they know standards first adopted in California have a habit of gaining de facto acceptance across the United States and the rest of the Western world. As a spokesman for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, a leading industry lobby group, put it over the weekend: "You can't make one car for California and another car for Washington DC."

California represents 10 per cent of the US market and has a reputation – long ago celebrated by the Beach Boys – for setting national trends in car fashion as well as environmental regulation.

It is also the only US state with the power to set its own emissions and efficiency standards, thanks to a 1967 federal law passed in recognition of what was then an isolated problem of severe smog pollution in Los Angeles.

Los Angeles is no longer the most polluted city in the country – that honour belongs to Houston, Texas – and the yellowish fug created by concentrations of private cars and lorries can now be experienced in two dozen American cities.

California's advocacy of innovative, environmentally-friendly regulation – most recently seen in the development of electric and hybrid vehicles – stands in stark contrast to the attitude of the White House and Congress, both of which have extensive links to the oil and auto industries. Earlier this year, under pressure from the car industry and trade unions that were worried about job losses in the auto sector, the Senate refused to pass even modestly improved fuel- efficiency standards, despite concerns about relying on Middle Eastern oil.

The enactment of the new law in California also marks the first time that large four-wheel-drive cars – known in the States as sports utility vehicles, or SUVs – are to be included with more conventional, smaller vehicles in the legislation. Until now, SUV manufacturers have successfully avoided a raft of regulations by defining their vehicles as trucks rather than cars.