Colorado will adopt California-style low-emission vehicle standards under Hickenlooper order

Gov. John Hickenlooper on Tuesday issued an executive order requiring the adoption of low-emission vehicle standards by 2025, with the first steps in developing the program ready by the end of this year.

The idea is that relying on available technologies in clean-energy delivery and using cost-effective strategies will boost the state’s chances of meeting its goal of reducing greenhouse gases by 26 percent in that time frame, Hickenlooper’s office said in a statement.

“Colorado has a choice. This executive order calls for the state to adopt air quality standards that will protect our quality of life in Colorado,” Hickenlooper said in the statement. “Low-emissions vehicles are increasingly popular with consumers and are better for our air. Every move we make to safeguard our environment is a move in the right direction.”

The order requires the state Department of Public Health and Environment to develop a rule that would establish the LEV program and, in part, incorporate some of the requirements already in place in California. Hickenlooper wants the nine-member Colorado Air Quality Control Commission to take up the proposed rule at its August meeting with the hope of adopting it by the end of this year.

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