Black Car Ban?

OK, not really but hearing word that California Air Resource Board (aka "CARB") was considering a ban on black car caused me to do a quick web search. Here's the actual report (make sure you have Adobe PDF reader). So, in attempt to reduce solar energy that is absorbed by car paint, CARB is considering imposing regulations that would have to increase the amount of heat car paint reflects back in an attempt to reduce the amount of solar energy absorbed here on Earth. Here's the issue that has many up in arms: black paint absorbs the most solar energy of any paint color. I think we all know that especially those of us who have or currently own a black car. CARB wants to regulate the amount of solar energy that is reflected back and black paint can not meet the minimum their regulations would mandate.  

You can read the report for more details and make a decision. Listen, I'm all for the environment but I'm also for sensible approaches. I have to be careful here in what I'm about to say but I will say that I don't always agree with the regulations that CARB comes up with. They can be very short sighted. I personally don't think this attempt at reducing the amount of solar energy absorbed will fly with the people. There are many more efficient ways of reducing the amount of heat absorbed. If they really want to consider this regulation, do we stop at black cars? How about dark blue or dark gray? How about roads? Roads absorb far more heat than cars do. Should we mandate that roads are anything but black? There are many more efficient ways of reducing global warming... wait, let me take that back. There are many ways of reducing pollution. We are straying away from the real heart of the matter. Global warming has become the buzz word while pollution has been pushed to the side. We need to cut down on pollution which means we need to not only improve efficiency but to consume less and throw away less. With this economy, I think we are all doing this whether we like it or not. I think that's a good thing for ourselves and our future.