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injdinjn

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California ‘Cool’ Paints Initiative Ugly, Lazy

By Drew Winter
WardsAuto.com, Mar 24, 2009 11:41 AM
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If California regulators get their way, auto makers may soon be forced to rewrite a cliché from the Ford Model T era and start telling customers they can have any color they want as long as it isn’t black.

Some darker hues will be available in place of black, but right now they are indentified internally at paint suppliers with names such as “mud-puddle brown” and are truly ugly substitutes for today’s rich ebony hues.

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So buy a black car now, because soon they won’t be available or will look so putrid you won’t want one. And that’s too bad, because paint suppliers say black is the second- or third-most popular vehicle color around the world.

The problem stems from a new “cool paints” initiative from the California Air Resources Board. CARB wants to mandate the phase-in of heat-reflecting paints on vehicle exteriors beginning with the ’12 model year, with all colors meeting a 20% reflectivity requirement by the ’16 model year.

Because about 17 other states tend to follow California’s regulatory lead, as many as 40% of the vehicles sold in the U.S. could be impacted by the proposed directive, suppliers say.

The measure is aimed at reducing carbon-dioxide emissions and improving fuel economy by keeping vehicles cooler on sunny days and decreasing the amount of time drivers use their air conditioners.

The rationale goes like this: Vehicle AC units sap engine power and hurt fuel economy. If vehicle paint and glass reflect more heat, car interiors will be cooler. That means drivers will use their AC units less, the compressors won’t have to work as hard and auto makers will be able to use smaller AC units in the future.

Reflective coatings and glazing (glass) already have proven to save energy when used on buildings, and this legislation is based on architectural standards.

On the surface, it’s not a bad idea, but fundamental issues reveal profoundly flawed legislation: Buildings and vehicles are manufactured and recycled differently, and no one buys a building based on its color.

Another troublesome fact: Heat-reflecting paints for black and other dark colors on vehicles have not been invented yet.

Paint suppliers also say heat-reflecting pigments that could be used in automotive applications contain toxic heavy metals that cause environmental damage and create health and safety issues during manufacturing and recycling.

At least one auto maker estimates the additional cost of using these paints at $100 per car, not counting required changes to assembly plant painting systems, which could be significant.

So far, auto makers are holding their tongues on this subject, but automotive paint suppliers, such as PPG Industries, are tearing their hair out.

“PPG obviously has a very large architectural division that paints lots of buildings,” says Connie Poulsen, global director-product management, at PPG. “The theory when (CARB) started this was you take the pigments used in buildings and put them into car paints. That’s a good theory; unfortunately it doesn’t quite work that easily. Believe me, we tested it right away.”

“Requirements for color palettes are different, the process is different, the pigments used are different,” Poulsen says, adding that new automotive paint systems also have to undergo two years of rigorous testing before being approved for production. That’s yet another item government bureaucrats never considered – along with 3-year product lead times.

Some California rules are problematic because they are utopian and unworkable. This legislation is flat-out lazy. It’s a cut-and-paste job from the state building code that ignores smarter, more-effective automotive solutions already in production or on the way, such as more efficient AC units and solar-powered ventilation fans that work automatically when a car is parked in the sun.

Struggling auto makers and suppliers must not be forced to waste their limited resources on the cool paints initiative, an ill-informed wasteful boondoggle that embarrasses the environmental movement.
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IMO PPG, GM, Cummings, B&S etc should tell CA and CARB to kiss off and quit selling products here.
These appointed nazis are out of control.

Gas powered lawn equipment costs Californians 10% - 20% more than in other States because of fuel evaporation.
What is CARB doing about the pollution we are getting from China.
When CA bans products from China then I "might" reconsider my feeling toward CARB, but until they go after the big polluters instead of us individual citizens they can KMA.
 
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So I guess as long as its the liberals stealing our freedoms it's OK, Thats what they accused Bush of for wanting to monitor terrorists by bugging their phones & locking them up in Guantanamo. I really feel bad for the younger generations that won't enjoy the prosperity & freedoms my generation had . If this is the change everyone was craving are we happy yet.
 
There is a old saying "Be careful what you wish for, you might get it."

Remember he only promised CHANGE, he didnt specify better or worse.
 
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There is a old saying "Be careful what you wish for, you might get it."

Remember he only promised CHANGE, he didnt specify better or worse.

Our country is crumbling right before our eyes. It's time to take it back. Political correctness will be our demise.
 
I am sure this only applies to new cars not old vehicles that already sport the color black, you guys are jumping the gun here..
 
if this happens, I'm going to buy the cheapest new car I can, and paint it black for the F of it:D ......A holes. This is why Lou wants to move to Texas:o
 
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I am sure this only applies to new cars not old vehicles that already sport the color black, you guys are jumping the gun here..
What! so your saying is that you support a ban on new black cars but not older ones. Why should we be limited to what ever car we want. The government isn't paying for it we are. So with everything else the car manufacturers have on their plate now they have to worry about car colors. Just think of how ridicules that sounds.
 
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if this happens, I'm going to buy the cheapest new car I can, and paint it black for the F of it:D ......A holes. This is why Lou wants to move to Texas:o

There are 14 other states that want in on this I wonder if Texas is one of them.
 
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