…and they’re indispensable when the situation requires a noticeable arrival

Unfortunately, at least in California, black cars are…
very uncool.

As in….

The popular blog, TechCrunch, informs us that California May Ban Black Cars.

It’s true. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) is proposing environmental regulations that would effectively ban the sale of black cars.

How? By requiring all new car paint colors to have a 20% solar reflectivity by 2016 with a phase-in period starting in 2012.
(Think climate change, global warming, Ray-Bans for autos)

So, can’t paint suppliers just come up with new, less heat-absorbent dark paints?

Autoblog reports that suppliers have been testing their pigments and processes to see if it’s possible to meet CARB’s proposed mandate and things aren’t looking good.

“Apparently, when the proper pigments and chemicals are added to black paint, the resulting color is currently being referred to as “mud-puddle brown.”

Ouch. Can you imagine Mad Max driving a mud-puddle brown Interceptor?

New Jersey is usually only a half-step behind California when it comes to environmental legislation and regulations. So it may be more a question of when than if the Garden State will see a similar push.

We can already see the state’s environmental organizations getting behind it…

Your opinion? Use the block below. If it’s missing, click on the tiny “comments” link.