Los Angeles, CA – Consumers Union (CU), the policy and advocacy division of Consumer Reports, the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) and Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety (CARS) are giving a stamp of approval to the state’s soon-to-be updated Clean Cars Program. These groups have sent a joint letter to the California Air Resources Board (CARB) urging it to approve the strongest possible standards at a hearing later this week in Los Angeles.

In the letter, the groups emphasize that strong Clean Car standards will protect consumers by encouraging the development of cleaner, more efficient cars that save families money, help reduce the American economy’s vulnerability to oil price shocks and reduce harmful air pollution.

CFA calculates that cars meeting the proposed Clean Car standards would save consumers thousands of dollars over the life of their new vehicle.

CU’s latest survey found that California consumers want clean cars and agree that the state should lead:

Eighty-one percent of respondents in California agreed that the state should require all automakers to reduce significantly the emissions of greenhouse gases from new cars, light-duty trucks and SUVs.

Three quarters of California consumers – 75 percent – think California should require automakers to build fleets that include increasing numbers of zero emission vehicles, including electric and hydrogen fuel cell cars.

Seventy-seven percent of Californians polled said there should be state requirements for oil companies to make cleaner fuels like hydrogen and electricity available for public consumption when there are enough cars in the area that use those fuels.

The groups agree that the standards will boost consumer choice by spurring development of clean car technologies and usher in the next generation of cleaner, more efficient cars in every category – from conventional gas-fueled cars and hybrids, to cars powered by electricity and hydrogen.