California is making it mandatory for new cars to be labeled with Global Warming score stickers. A law set to go into effect January 1, 2009 will force auto dealers to label vehicles for sale with a 1 to 10 score rating its effect on Global Warming and the environment. The score will take into account emissions involving the vehicle and the fuel it uses when evaluating it Global Warming Score. The score will be displayed next to the already mandated smog score on vehicles.

California is the first state to enact such a law requiring Global Warming scores on new cars, however New York will follow close behind, requiring its auto dealers to display similar information on automobiles starting 2010.

Mandating access to information on the environmental impact of cars by both California and New York is undoubtedly a step in the right direction for the industry. I’m forced to wonder however if both states are setting their sights a little low though by only requiring a simplified 1 to 10 score on a problem that is obviously much, much more complicated. One is forced to consider both the metrics and methodology involved when such a simplification is used. Regardless though, even if it is only a crawl at present, I applaud the effort in making citizens better aware of their own environmental impact.

You can takepart in learning more about the environmental impact of automobiles by logging onto the State of California’s DriveClean website.

LINKS:

GreenBiz.com: New cars in California must display Global Warming Score

Treehugger: California Rolls Out “Global Warming Score” Labels to Show Vehicles’ Emissions

MSNBC: California requires climate stickers on new cars