R.I. seeks tighter limits on car, truck emissions

PROVIDENCE -- Rhode Island will adopt new regulations limiting greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks, Governor Don Carcieri said yesterday.

The draft regulations, modeled on laws in California, are designed to prevent global warming by decreasing carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide emissions starting in 2009. Emission standards will tighten every year until 2016.

Environmental regulators said motor vehicles account for almost 40 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions in Rhode Island.

''We're working hard to make sure the vehicles on our road are the cleanest and most environmentally friendly," Carcieri said.

Carcieri said his main goal was to reduce pollution, but the technology used to meet the new emission standards promotes fuel efficiency.

The technology could increase new car prices by $1,000 by 2016, according to estimates by the governor's office. But Carcieri said the price increase will be offset by fuel savings.

Charles Territo, a spokesman for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, warned that the price increases will be heftier. His organization represents nine major manufacturers and filed a lawsuit in California to block the greenhouse standards.