Black is back for California drivers (actually, it never left)

The Great California Black Car Crisis is over — for now at least.

The California Air Resources Board said Friday that it has no plans “at this time” to regulate car paint as part of a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions — and never intended to outlaw black cars in the first place.

“We are by no means interested in banning or restricting car colors,” CARB spokesman Stanley Young said.

Reports that regulators were planning to banish black cars from the Golden State in an effort to reduce air pollution created a global uproar, perhaps best expressed in this headline from Rush Limbaugh’s website: “Tyrants Want to Ban Black Cars.”

The purported black car ban was said to be part of the “cool cars” initiative being cooked up by the air board, which is looking for ways to follow the legislature’s mandate to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in California. Greenhouse gases are a cause of global warming, and automotive tailpipe emissions are a major source.

One solution: lower the temperature inside parked cars, thereby reducing the amount of air conditioning — and engine power and gasoline — needed to keep the occupants cool and comfortable.

CARB looked at two possible ways to achieve this: mandating the use of reflective paints that reduce the amount of solar heat absorbed by a vehicle, and requiring manufacturers to install glass with reflective coatings to achieve the same purpose.

When word got out that CARB couldn’t find a reflective version of deep black paint that suited its needs, auto enthusiast blogs and conservative commentators smelled another “kooky California” story — or “out-of-control government” expose, take your pick — and jumped in with relish.

The fact that black is the second most popular color among car owners in the U.S. — behind white — helped stoke the outrage. The Truth About Cars, a blog that brings a smart sensibility to its automotive commentary, opined that “regulating car color comes across as nothing more than an exercise in bureaucratic power for its own sake.”

CARB ultimately decided to ditch the paint scheme and move ahead with just the reflective glass mandate (which is not window tinting, by the way; it’s a reflective clear coat).

The air board is now taking public comments on its proposed reflective glass rules, which it estimates will add $31-$50 to the cost of a new vehicle while saving Californians millions of gallons of fuel a year by 2020 and reducing greenhouse gas emissions significantly. (You can read the various iterations of the cool cars rules and get info on submitting a comment here.)

A final vote on the rules may come at the air board’s meeting in late June.

So, did the bureaucrats really intend to ban black cars, only to be foiled by an outraged citizenry? That’s hard to say. Young notes that it’s not unusual for CARB to get an earful over its proposed regs, and in this case, “it wasn’t exactly opposition” that killed the paint initiative. “It was an appraisal that the technology was not yet mature enough to deliver what we hoped to achieve.”

Moreover, the CARB PowerPoint presentation that got everyone’s fan belt in a twist never actually recommends that black cars be banned. It merely — “sinisterly,” Rush might say — notes that “jet black remains an issue.”

Still, the timing is interesting. Although the workshop at which the paint plan was discussed was held on March 12, the decision to drop the idea wasn’t made until this week, according to Young — the very same week, sinisterly enough, that Limbaugh referred to the CARB rule makers as tyrants.

Coincidence? We report, you decide.

-- Martin Zimmerman

Comments

[George in Miami]

Anyone who wants to have a black car in a hot climate should be free to sear their butts to their car seat, how ever they see fit!

[Roseanne Visone]

I am sick of all these regulators trying to take our freedoms away. Don't they have anything better to take care of than to prohibit californians from buying black cars. Talk about a dictatorship!!!

[anon]

Doesn't the LAT have a single file photo of a black car with CA license plates? Seems that would be more appropriate for a topic about the tyranny of CA regulators.

[B Crumpacker]

1. Black cars are 10 to 15 degrees hotter inside during the day than lighter colored cars, and burn more fuel for air conditioning. Thus I laugh at the idiots who paid a premium for a black Prius but waste energy anyway.
2. Mercedes did a big study showing that dark cars are TWICE as likely to be involved in accidents as lighter colored cars.
3. Industry studies show black vehicle owners care most about power and prestige.
4. In conclusion, ownership of a black vehicle tells us a lot about you. Thanks for warning us while you're still far away.

[kb]

California is a joke and all the fools that go along with these silly ideas really need to find a hobby. Most of the greens are a bunch of hippocrites. Driving in a Prius and feeling like your so intelligent and above those "evil" SUV owners. Now to ban black cars? What a joke. Although I hate to see California collapse under its own weight I feel it deserves it. Budget deficit getting worse every year and all we can worry about is black cars. Democrats say they are for the poor well if they keep getting their way everyone in California will be poor. So keep voting for them. They have been very impressive so far.

[matt]

i do think that the suv is another cancer brought on by the big three domestics, i mean really, how can you see around those big heavy sqare blocks with wheels? im guily too as i owned one years ago but was glad to trade it for a car later. yes, banning black paint is stupid, it is a distraction away from our useless legislator. i guess they would have us drive all white or pink cars, then mary kay would lose exclusivity. b.t.w. i want to read more dan neil articles is he still around?

[me]

How is the state of California going to recoup the gas tax revenue if people use less gas? Oh, they will increase the income tax. But at least Mother Gaia is safe with junk science. Yay!

[Steven R. Mason]

As I said earlier, Rush Limbaugh did not get the fiasco about black cars being banned in California. I posted this information on my Twitter account 36 hours before Rush even mentioned. Lets get our stories straight.

[Moe DeLon]

Hey, I'm fine with the CARB looking at ways to lower greenhouse emissions. All sorts of ideas should be discussed, not all of them should be implemented. That's what happened here. It is amusing to see people get all excited about it.

[John Brown]

Why must the vast majority of Calfornians drive around with the a/c on all the time in this perfectly nice, mild climate? Especially here in LA there is no legitimate reason. Can't remember the last time I used mine. The agreeable weather is the main reason that I live here...and the list is getting smaller.

[Lance]

I'd like to know how I get this reflective glass or coating installed. Tinted windows are unsafe and look like crap (ghetto!) if you ask me and they don't actually work very well to keep your car any cooler.

[Jesus]

I love black cars, I own a black 2005 civic coupe... however the big problem.. you have to wash it and keep it clean everyday.. otherwise it will look crappy.

[Shutupndeal]

I live in a cold part of the world..... the black car reduces - REDUCES - the energy I use to heat it. When it's cold out, but the sun is shining it is nice and toasy inside my car!

[Sam]

And yet no talk of simply allowing window tint on the driver/passenger side windows. Currently prohibited in CA, all but mandatory on AZ and NV.

[Robert B]

It would help if the LA Times would, in reporting this kind of information, mention that California is under Federal mandate to clean its air. Thousands die prematurely because of dirty air due to the number of vehicles, the lack of diesel regulations, and geography -- our pollution has nowhere to go. CARB is running out of ways to reduce car emissions -- that is what this story is really about. Then maybe the jerks who think air pollution is so funny would think twice.

[h]

As an owner of a black car for the last 13 years, and a white car for the 10 years before that, I can say that black cars do have hotter interiors than white. We always park in the shade whenever we can from March-November. A black car parked in the shade is cooler than any car parked in the sun.

I think the new Prius with the optional solar-driven fan for interior cooling while parked is a terrific idea!

[Cato]

>> And yet no talk of simply allowing window tint on the driver/passenger side windows. Currently prohibited in CA, all but mandatory on AZ and NV.

Posted by: Sam | March 29, 2009 at 08:55 PM

WRONG! Window tint isn't prohibited in California. It's limited in how dark it is on the driver and front passenger windows, just as it is in AZ.

Ask a cop how comfortable he or she feels during a night time traffic stop approaching a car with illegal front window tint. If that's what you have, expect the officer to approach with his/her gun drawn.

[Eric of Reseda]

The government is going to have to impose on a lot of our lifestyle choices because we've reached that point. Things are out of control, and so are consumers. The fact is, if we want to survive halfway comfortably, conservation is key. We are at a unique poiint in history. So, if CARB has hard science & numbers that show that reducing the amount of black cars in California will save the state a significant of gasoliine and a reduction in pollution, I'm all for it. Educate people, and they'll get behind it.

[Blithe]

B Crumpacker:

The argument that car color can reduce engine power and gasoline used for air conditioning would be a valid argument, except for the fact that cars have windows. Hence, I don't see how a black car that keeps it windows down but it's air conditioning off would be polluting more than a white car that keeps the windows up and the air conditioning on.

Instead of outlawing a color, it appears to me that the better proposition would be to outlaw air conditioning in cars.

Dark cars being TWICE as likely to be in accidents than lightly-colored cars? So...what's your point? It could very well be that people who drive dangerously are drawn toward dark-colored cars; therefore, just banning dark-colored cars won't help anything, because then those dangerous drives will drive light-colored cars.

As for black car owners caring most about power and prestige- There are plenty of people who care most about power and prestige who don't own black cars too.

So your ultimate conclusion is that black car owners are environmentally unfriendly, accident-prone, and egotistical. But you're making a lot of assumptions and jumps in faulty reasoning to get to that point.

So...I take it you're not a black car owner. Then, can I expect light-colored car owners like yourself to be dumb, illogical, and generally moronic?

[h.w.]

Blithe:

Outlaw air conditioning? Are you nuts? In Woodland Hills, it can (and has) easily cracked 115-120 degrees in the summer. In a car with no air conditioning it gets considerably hotter, even with the windows open. Heat KILLS, and too many people underestimate that in the summer and die of heat stroke.

[Ricoswank]

Since when in the hell did having tinted windows on your car become ghetto?
And it is illegal to have any tint, other than factory solar tint, on your front driver&passenger windows. And that is up for negotiation. I've gotten a ticket for light solar tint applied by Lexus. I had to have it removed, and paid a fix-it ticket.

[Michael Bast]

The color of the outside of a car has less to do with the heat inside the cabin than does the slope of the window glass and the color of the interior. The feel to the passengers is also related to air-flow. I have had a white car and a black car in Southern CA and currently drive a red car. My current car is the hottest of them all, the black one had cloth seats and a good ventalitation system. It allowed air to circulate without passing over heating/cooling coils and let it come directly in. That along with the slope and amount of glass seems to matter most. I had a white station wagon that had a lot of glass and it was quite warm when parked in the sun, it did have cloth seats which, compared to the leather I have now, was much cooler. I need to use the air-conditioning with my current car because the air comes over the coils, and if they are hot, the air is hot. The best improvement would be to put a solar powered fan that would circulate air through the car while it is parked, thus keeping the internal temperature lower and requiring less cooling to reach a comfort level. Air circulation and a reflective coating will go much further. The color of the outside of a car is a very small part of the equasion.
- We need to remember that it isn't the temp of the exterior of the car we are talking about, it is the cabin!

[Dianna]

This is the STUPIDIST idea I have heard of in quite a while. In my car, I don't cycle my ac on and off, like at my house. I leave my ac ON in the car.....if it gets too cool, I add some heat.

[Mitsuko]

We report, you decide? Gimme a break. This story is full of biased statements and misleading information. It's never been proven that "greenhouse gases" cause global warming and what is this BS about "Rush Limbaugh might say..." You not not only reported, you decided for us by expressing your left wing propaganda in this story.