Their main objection to the bill (and an argument used frequently by the auto industry) seemed to be that it would have us follow the standards set by CALIFORNIA! (Start playing scary music now).
That's right, big bad scary California where they have horrible things like hippie tree huggers and liberal Hollywood elites! Wooah! Scary isn't it?!
As a little background for anyone who doesn't read my blog regularly, federal law allows California (and no other state) to set its own auto emissions standards beyond the minimum set at the federal level. Other states can join onto the California standards and fourteen have so far. Illinois could choose to opt out of the California standards at any point in the future if CARB suddenly proposed that we all have to drive foot peddled Flinstones cars or something else unbearable.
The lobbyists from the Alliance of Auto Manufacturers used one of their common scare tactics by claiming that the standards could halt ethanol production. To set the record straight, Karen May had a chart at her press conference yesterday showing at least 20 flex fuel vehicles currently on the market that meet the California standards. For more details you can read this letter from CARB answering a Minnesota State Senator's questions about how the standards would impact biofuels. And here's an analysis of consumer savings under the Act put together by the Union of Concerned Scientists.