Crackdown on car emissions could benefit L.A. industry: court ruling on greenhouse gas could take pressure off industry.

LAST week's U.S. Supreme Court ruling requiring the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to look at regulating greenhouse gas emissions could actually help companies here in Southern California.

For starters, because the state of California has already passed a law requiting greenhouse gas generators to slash carbon emissions 25 percent to 1990 levels by 2020, companies here could have a head start against competitors in other parts of the country in developing their strategies.

But the benefits could also extend to companies in Southern California that don't emit greenhouse gases. That's because if the EPA does require automakers to produce more fuel-efficient vehicles, it could mean less sweeping future regulations on local industry.

"When cars burn less fuel, it not only reduces greenhouse gas emissions but also smog-forming emissions," said Sam Atwood, spokesman for the South Coast Air Quality Management District, which is welcoming the Supreme Court decision as long overdue.

The district has for years been complaining to the federal government that vehicles are a major contributor to smog--in some studies up to 50 percent of the total problem--yet automakers have never been required to do their "fair share" to clean up. The district does not have the authority to regulate corporate average fuel economy standards, so in order to meet stringent clean air targets it has had to put more of the onus on local industries that it can regulate.

"Industry should not have to take on more than its fair share; especially if the auto industry can be made to observe its fair share," Atwood said.