State air board may slash zero-emission mandate

Hoping to buy an emission-free vehicle in the next few years? Finding one might soon get much tougher. California’s Air Resources Board will vote today on whether to cut, by nearly two-thirds, the number of electric-battery and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles that major carmakers must sell here over the next decade. The proposed change to the state’s Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate has stirred up protests from environmentalists and alternative-transportation advocates, who say automakers have little incentive to produce such vehicles unless obligated. Others say the state will be unable to meet its own greenhouse gas-reduction targets without requiring more production of emission-free vehicles. Passenger vehicles emit about 30% of California’s greenhouse gases. For the full story visit http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-zev27mar27,1,7041029.story