As President Bush never tires of saying, "Hydrogen is the wave of the future." And now, wonder of wonders, we discover that the Bush EPA agrees.
Cutting directly to the chase: The EPA has decided to allow automakers to use hydrogen-powered fuel cell cars to meet zero-emission vehicle requirements in California and 10 other states.
The EPA ruling approves a 2003 decision by the California Air Resources Board allowing fuel cells as an alternative to the battery-powered vehicles it had previously required. Since then, ten states have followed California's lead: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington.
A bit of history: Way back in 1990, California required that by 2003, 10 percent of new cars sold in the state by major manufacturers must be zero-emission vehicles. Years of controversy, posturing, and possible treachery ensued — some of it represented, for better or worse, in the documentary Who Killed the Electric Car? — and the rules morphed considerably. The current version calls for two percent zero-emission vehicles, two percent gasoline-electric hybrids, and six percent super-low-polluting gasoline-powered vehicles (aka PZEVs).
Now car makers can count either battery-powered or fuel-cell vehicles toward that two percent threshold. But an ARB spokesman doesn't see companies opting for battery-powered cars:
Wonder of wonders.
