Today, there are 6.4 million. Meanwhile, there has been a 36 percent increase in vehicle miles traveled between l970 and l997, while the state s population grew only 12.3 percent. While substantial emission reductions have been required, additional air pollution control measures need to be adopted to protect the public health from an increase in emissions from automobiles. There is a national program to deal directly with car emissions, and there is a tougher standard that certain states, such as New York, Massachusetts, Vermont and California, have adopted. This standard would reduce certain key pollutants by up to 50 percent and would require automobile manufacturers to sell the cleanest cars possible in New Jersey.
New Jersey has the power to require tough clean car standards, as other states have done.
However, the Department of Environmental Protection and Gov. Whitman's administration have not acted. To combat this, New Jersey has the power to require automobile manufacturers to sell the cleanest cars available to the state. This clean car program, known as LEV II, will dramatically improve New Jersey s air quality. In order to protect public health, it is critical that New Jersey join the ranks of states that have adopted LEV II, including New York, California, Vermont and Massachusetts, and embraces this clean car program. Secondly, to demonstrate the technology and also to demonstrate the state s commitment to improved air quality, New Jersey must seek state procurement of clean cars for a majority of the state s vehicle needs.