Auto emissions topic of chamber chat

• JOE VACCARELLI
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Looking east on F Road with traffic and cars on the road for a newly proposed Colorado Emissions Standards. This includes a proposed rule for zero-emission vehicle standards.

• Christopher Tomlinson

The Colorado Automobile Dealers Association is all for more people buying and driving electric and hybrid cars. However, the organization feels the market should dictate purchases rather than government mandates.

This sentiment was part of the message shared by Matthew Groves on Wednesday during a luncheon hosted by the Grand Junction Area Chamber of Commerce. The topic of the day was Colorado emissions and why Groves, the vice president of legal, regulatory and compliance for the Colorado Automobile Dealers Association, feels adopting California emissions standards in Colorado will not work.

Colorado opted out of the federal emissions standards in November and joined roughly a dozen states that have adopted California's standards. California has a waiver under the Clean Air Act that allows the state to impose stronger standards. Gov. Jared Polis also signed an executive order that is aimed at supporting a transition to zero-emission vehicles.

The Colorado Automobile Dealers Association has filed a lawsuit against the state regarding Colorado adopting California emissions standards. California's standards are the same as at the federal level, but that could change after 2020 as the Environmental Protection Agency is considering freezing federal standards at 2020 levels.

Under California standards, all cars sold in the state must average 36 miles per gallon by 2025. Groves told a full house Wednesday that this could drive up the price of new cars and thus keep older, more polluting cars on the road.

"You can influence people, but you can't force them," he said. "We endorse that people want electric cars, but think it should be consumer-driven. We support that."

Groves noted that newer cars, even non-electric, are significantly cleaner than older models. He said there has been an 18 percent increase in carbon emissions between 1980 and 2015, but a 106 percent spike in vehicle miles traveled during that span.

Groves also feels Colorado will lose its negotiating voice as the EPA only talks with California about its standards and not the other states that have adopted the policies.

A large contingent from Grand Junction's Citizens for Clean Air came out to the luncheon. Member Karen Sjoberg said she thought Groves had some strong points, but also disagreed with some arguments. Groves had noted that Denver was installing more infrastructure for bicycles and public transit to increase traffic and discourage driving. Sjoberg felt the investments make sense as she has experienced the traffic on the Front Range and feels more people would want to get out of the traffic.

However, she said there is consumer momentum around electric vehicles.

"Having everything be consumer-driven is a good point, but I think there is a lot of excitement around electric vehicles," she said.

Chamber President and CEO Diane Schwenke said there was a lot of interest around this topic, but had actually booked Groves prior to the state adopting California's emission standards.

The chamber has publicly stated that it feels there is a need for more research on the impacts of the California standards on Colorado drivers and businesses that have fleets of vehicles.

Her hope was that some of the business owners in attendance would leave with a better understanding of the regulations.