Ottawa, October 1, 2010 - Environment
Minister Jim Prentice has announced final regulations that
establish progressively more stringent greenhouse gas emission
standards for new passenger automobiles and light trucks for the
2011-2016 model years. These are aligned with similar regulations
in the United States.
"Any significant approach to fighting climate change must include
serious action to address on-road emissions. Canada has worked
closely with the U.S. government to establish common North American
standards for regulating GHGs from new light-duty vehicles - and we
look forward to further collaboration," said Minister
Prentice.
The Passenger Automobile and Light Truck Greenhouse Gas Emission
Regulations provide certainty to the automotive industry and
require significant technological improvements to vehicles to
reduce GHG emissions. As a result of the regulations, it is
projected that the average GHG emission performance of new vehicles
for the 2016 model year will be about 25% lower than the vehicles
that were sold in Canada in 2008.
The Minister also released a Notice of Intent regarding the
government's commitment to continue working with the United States
towards the development of tighter standards for light vehicles for
the 2017 and later model years. Canada and the U.S. will continue
to undertake technical assessment of potential annual improvements
in GHG emission performance of up to 6%.
Canada is committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions 17%
from 2005 levels by 2020, a target which reflects the importance of
aligning with the United States. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions
from new motor vehicles will play an important part in helping us
achieve that goal. Cars and light trucks account for about 12% of
Canada's total GHG emissions.
For more information and to view a backgrounder on this
announcement, please visit the Web site of Environment Canada, at
http://www.ec.gc.ca/.
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