Results Of Our Online Reader Poll
Which crate engine would you buy if money were no object?
| High-Output CumminsTurbodiesel | 35% |
| Ram Jet 502 | 24% |
| 514 Ford | 17% |
| Viper V-10 | 8% |
| LS1 | 6% |
| 430hp/392 Ford | 4% |
| 402 Magnum | 3% |
Environmental & Political Watch
*Scant hours after California Governor Gray Davis signed a sweeping (yet incredibly vague) bill aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the Golden State, automakers vowed to stop the bill before it could take effect. AB1493 charges the California Air Resources Board with finding ways to reduce vehicular carbon dioxide emissions (which are believed to contribute to global warming) and impose these new standards by 2009. Automakers, however, viewed the bill's passage as a backdoor means to increase corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards-an increase that had been shot down at the Federal level by President Bush earlier in the year-since the only current technology available to reduce carbon dioxide emissions is to produce engines that burn less fuel. Some groups took a harsher view of the bill, claiming it would eventually lead to the end of big trucks and SUVs in California. In the wake of the bill's signing, strategies ranging from federal lawsuits to local voter referendums are being devised to derail the pending regulations.
*In other CAFE-related news, SEMA reports that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is considering making changes to the CAFE minimums (currently 27.5 mpg for cars, 20.7 mpg for light trucks), which would include reclassifying certain trucks and SUVs to reflect their use as passenger, rather than cargo, haulers. This, too, could put fullsize SUVs on the endangered species list.