SACRAMENTO (KCBS/AP) -- The California Air Resources Board Thursday slashed the number of battery-powered and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles that must be sold in the state, a setback for environmentalists and health advocates.
The decision is expected to affect 12 other states that had adopted California's target for zero-emission vehicles.
The board voted to lower by 70 percent the number of those vehicles that automakers must sell here and in the states that intended to follow California's get-tough rules for vehicle emissions.
Instead, the air board said the six largest automakers must sell nearly 60,000 hybrid vehicles while they develop the more advanced technology that will allow mass production of pure zero-emission vehicles.
Board chairwoman Mary Nichols described the move as a major step toward putting cleaner cars on the road. The plug-in hybrids envisioned by the air board have yet to be designed, she said.
``We're introducing a whole new category of vehicles to the public,'' Nichols said. ``I don't think it's a step backwards in the real world.''
In essence, the air board took two steps on Thursday: It cut the number of zero-emission vehicles it wants on the road by 2014, while at the same time offering an alternative - the gas-electric hybrids.
Environmentalists and health advocates criticized the lowering of the zero-emission goal for vehicles. They said the threats posed by global warming, combined with rising gasoline prices, lends urgency to greatly reducing vehicle emissions.
Auto manufacturers said they could not meet the California standard and needed more time to make affordable hydrogen and battery-powered cars.
``Pushing this technology into the market before they are commercially viable ties up resources that could be better utilized by advancing core technologies,'' said Sara Rudy, an emissions regulatory manager at Ford. ``It is important at this stage to be nimble.''
(cdg)
KCBS' Janice Wright reports
