When the first Model T rolled off the assembly line, Henry Ford was asked what colors were available, to which he famously quipped, "You can get it in any color you want as long as it is black." A century later, California, the Mother of all Nanny States, is telling its citizens they can have any color they want as long as it is not black, or any other dark color, for that matter. You see, you thoughtless dark car owners are killing the planet because your car uses too much energy to cool the passengers. So it's light colored cars for the lot of you.
In a move that will likely get California's consumers in a huff, impending legislation may soon restrict the paint color options for Golden State residents looking for their next new vehicle. The specific colors that are currently on the chopping block are all dark hues, with the worst offender seemingly the most innocuous color you could think of: Black.
What could California possibly have against these colors, you ask? Apparently, the California Air Resources Board figures that the climate control systems of dark colored cars need to work harder than their lighter siblings – especially after sitting in the sun for a few hours. Anyone living in a hot, sunny climate will tell you that this assumption is accurate, of course. In fact, legislation already exists for buildings that has proven successful at reducing the energy consumption of skyscrapers.
So what about a red Corvette? Too dark? How about burgundy, or are we stuck with pink? And what about visitors to California? Will Grandpa have to pay a sin tax on his navy blue Cadillac when he visits from Nevada? With all of California's existing restrictive fuel economy standards on large cars, and now color restrictions on the cars you can buy, it seems that in California you can buy any car you want, as long as it is one of these.
Freedom is Number 1 on the endangered species list in California.
Comments
It should make for more cheerful funerals. On the other hand, it will probably irretrievably damage the psyche of us, darker hued citizens. I'm calling it a hate crime.
Blas
Blas-LOL
Youcan say one thing for them---They come by the expression, "Woo woo California," honestly.
Another reason I'll never live in CA again!
Learn some journalism skills, for crying out loud! Your headline is deceptive. You offer no reliable sources. Your reasoning is fallacious.
Such totally bogus blather gives Examiner a bad name. Do your job as a journalist more ethically, or go do something else.
It has to be said.!What about black cats,black dogs,& black lingarie?Sometimes one has to think that the 'big one' just might have some benificial side effects.
Perhaps if CA once again allowed us to tint our windows - we could reduce all that heat generated inside the car while it's baking in the sun. This, in turn, will help us reduce our climate control system usage yes?
Men love cars because they have small...um...minds.
Suck it up. POOR BABY CANT HAVE THEIR BLACK CAR. Guess what? There's more pressing issues.
All ways keepin the black car down!
Where are your sources? I know this is a blog, but come on. Back up your claims.
Dude! Every california ex girlfriend i ever had drove a black jetta! WHAT WILL THEY DO?!
You are a douche, sir, trying desperately to spin something Green as a "commie plot" using the sheep's clothing of Libertarianism. Nobody in the Green movement wants to "force" poor (read: boo hoo for poor Gramps) Grandpa to pay a "sin tax". They just would like for Nazi Cadillac owners to take "personal responsibility" (a catch phrase I'm sure you're familiar with) for the detriment to the environment they cause for their own comfort. So, just cut the crap!
Shirley you jest! Will it be against the law for me to bring my black nephew his black wife and his black children to Califirnia in my black Buick. Your article was a real knee slapper, and slicker than snot on a pump handle in January. I'm beginning to see the truth in the saying, "California, the Land of Fruits and Nuts". If this is for real, please name the idiots, I mean legislatiors, that thought this new law up. I'm not much of a journalist either by ending that last sentence with up. I'd quote a famous WWII English leader about that particular offence but then everyone knows the quote by heart anyway. Ha, Ha.
Thank You,
Be Blessed;
Harm.............:)
If this is true, then it's a load of crap. People with black cars also pay to cool their cars. So it's their choice. Another thing, the amount of energy required to cool a black car compared to a white car is miniscule. You can tell the difference with Skyscrapers because those buildings are gigantic. This is also similar to congress wanting to ban large screen plasma TV's. Why can't we just pay Al Gore money to offset the extra money our TV's are using.
This whole movement is a load of crap. If I want to pay for it then I should be allowed to use it. If you don't want to have it, then it's your choice to not have it. I live in a free country for a reason, and it's not to be controlled by politicians who believe they know better than me.
now if this story is false, then it's a poor attempt at humor, and a poor attempt at trying to drum up anger (now I made a rant above but it was in response to the idea that something like that is actually possible because the Plasma TV thing is true.)
"Examiners are credible, passionate, knowledgeable writers"
Let's Call California what it is, Communist, If CA had it's way every car in CA would be a White Smart Car powered by CNG.
Communist States such as California needs to be pummeled back into the real free world.
I don't think so. I own a black car. Next car I get will be a black car...even if I have to get it resprayed. The state is not going to tell me what color of car I can drive.
Not that I agree with this, assuming that it's true, but I do find conservative "outrage" a little humorous. California conservatives don't want "libs" forcing them to abide by rules that they (the conservatives) don't agree with. This sounds shockingly similar to Prop. 8. Then again, we all know that the rules change when the conservatives are on the receiving end. When liberals opposed Bush, we were un-American traitors. When conservatives oppose Obama, they're heroes. Do conservatives really take themselves seriously?
I'm not defending Dupray's "journalism" (after all, he did cite another blog as his source!?) But the other article has a link to a PDF of the results of the California Air Resources Board's "Cool Cars Workshop" presentation.
In any case, when it comes to discussions like what paint can increase auto fuel efficiency enough to make a difference in aggregate, we've gone off the deep end friends. Some folks in government over at the CARB don't have enough to do in their day...
At what point does dark grey stop being grey and becomes black?
This has about as much truth to it as you (and the dumbass autoblog you copied it from) have journalistic integrity.
I love the "chopping block" bit -- like gov't can just willy nilly ban whatever they want whenever they want with no process.
HAHAHAHAA... jesus H.
Clearly California is run by complete morons!
RT
www.privacy-tools.us.tc
There are 47 other states a person can drive to and live/work with a black painted car.
What a load of tripe, I will believe it when I see it. -Los Angeles
I guess I will wait and see, but I doublt it will get out of commitee. How long did it take those knuckheads to pass the budget? 1 year?
Google this article: "A Change in Paint Might Be the Next Big Thing in the Greening of Cars and Trucks" at Edmunds.com. (I can't post a direct link...) It does a much better job at explaining the issue.
Look, all you right-wingers who mock progressive measures like this as infringing upon your "freedom," what you don't get is that it isn't just YOUR freedom. We share this planet. Even if you think you should be able to buy up and own as much of it as you want, you SHARE it. It's like the HUMMER argument. They should be banned. Period. Those things drive up gas costs and pollute. We all share the oil on this planet and for these boneheads with their huge SUVs to guzzle it all away is absurd. Grow up. Freedom has nothing to do with car color or car size. Fight the bigger fights.
What if Your black car doesn't have AC? Is OK with Herr Kommandant?
Kevin Rose is an a.s.s. and Digg sucks.
Urban heat effect..... Interesting....
There's a point when the environmental benifits don't justify the lost freedom and this is one of those times. I've had light colord cars and dark colored cars and there's about a 1/2 hour difference before either will max out to the same temp sitting in a parking lot. I'm all for environmental regulations when it serves a purpose but this is just being petty
This is change we definitely do not need. How is this going to help the economy?
Total BS on the idea of carbon black paint reduction keeping people from using their AC and having an negligible effect on the gas consumption. Most warm climates you will not find people opting to increase the drag on their vehicles or opting to not use AC. My *white* car gets plenty hot and I havent seen a difference in my mileage in testing AC vs non AC use.
This is simply a load of crap and wont pass; even in California.
We need a scientist to chime in on this topic, back in the day we painted our cam covers flat black because it is the best radiator of heat? same reason they painted Franklin stoves black...Something fishy here.
Whaaaaaa! I want my car to be black and I don't care about greater common interests because I can't see past my own sense of entitlement to do whatever I want reguardless of how it effects the world I live in. Go flip your hummer you right wing jack offs!
Never thought I'd see the day when California was the bigot state of America. First they deny rights to gays, now they hate blacks so much they won't even let our CARS be black.
Outlaw black cars, but we're not allowed to tint our windows, which would result in a much more significant cooling effect for cars.
Total BS
Unfortunately this is not scientifically based. Dark cars get hotter faster, but after a certain period of time both cars will reach the same temperature. It does not take any longer to cool the dark car down than it does the light colored car.
I thought they outlawed Republicans in DC. Shut up thanks.
When black cars are outlawed, only outlaws will have black cars!
Ive only ever owned black cars, and none of them have air conditioning. why not just outlaw spoiled yuppies?
God, it's nice to be live in such a rich and spoiled society that this feels like oppression.
Remember when Bottled water was "in"? Now it's just filling up our landfills. Anybody out there remember cloth diapers and paper grocery bags. We're just like dogs chasing our tails and reinventing the same ole things every generation or so. Nothing new under the sun......
So if you have a newish Mercedes with solar cells that power the air conditioning system? Those sweet pieces of German craftsmanship do it automatically as soon as there's light enough to power the AC, even when parked.
the average hybrid car manufacturing process emits as much Co2 as driving a hummer 15000 miles a year for ten years. (the average American mileage) Get your facts straight hippies. If the Government endorsed window tinting, in which has a more dramatic effect on the interior heating of the car, we would all be better off? or perhaps they could just ensure a certain standard of heat repellent paints (that are of any color) that are so readily available, be used.
Blacks are being discriminated against once again!
Outlaw black asphalt! No more black asphalt roads, no more black asphalt parking lots, both of which are used to pave over paradise.
Black asphalt roads are heating up our Earth. Black asphalt parking lots are melting our polar caps and killing those poor pretty white bears who have to swim in freezing water just to cool off. Black asphalt roads and parking lots are the actual cause of global warming and this unusual string of dormant volcanoes suddenly becoming active along our Pacific Coast.
Black asphalt is sucking solar energy right into our Earth heating up everything, including chewing gum which always finds its sticky way to the bottoms of your feet.
Black asphalt is heating up magma deep below causing volcanic pimples from Alaska to California leading to black lava being spewed out. We need to ban black lava, as well.
Black asphalt is bad mojo.
All black asphalt roads and parking lots are to be ripped up then replaced with grayish white well ventilated pea gravel, or simply left a Coyote brown dirt.
Pea gravel, dirt, yes, this will destroy the market for high heeled pumps for women. I hate having to wear those, make my feet hurt.
Wait a minute, solar panels are black in color...
Okpulot Taha
Choctaw Nation
California needs to be cut off from the rest of the world, period.
agree with cooper... this wont help economy, ...gupling it
The lightening up of urban areas reduces the amount of sunlight being absorbed. This is why there are new initiatives to bring in White roof tops or light colored roof tops to urban areas. And I have had both light and dark cars. They do get similarly hot. However, in the morning, the silver car I had was much cooler because the sun didn't have a chance to heat it up as fast. I also notice darker cars here in Alabama have significantly more cases of paint peel. I didn't see this so much in Virginia. This can even be seen in darker Hondas and Toyotas and I think I used to only see paint peel on Ford and Chevy, to be honest, probably from a paint defect or just plain bad R&D. These are observations, not scientifically qualified in the least, I know. One more thing, most people wear light colors in summer for a reason. I am not saying laws need to be made, but maybe we need to work as a society to move towards larger objectives than just our own concerns. This is how roads get built, infrastructure is maintained and ultimately we survive.
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