False Alarm

The LA Times reports that despite the report like the one below, "the California Air Resources Board said Friday that it has no plans 'at this time' to regulate car paint as part of a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions — and never intended to outlaw black cars in the first place."

Thank goodness because "Men in Mud Puddle Brown" sounds no where near as cool as MIB.

From Autoblog:

California to reduce carbon emissions by... banning black cars?!

In a move that will likely get California's consumers in a huff, impending legislation may soon restrict the paint color options for Golden State residents looking for their next new vehicle. The specific colors that are currently on the chopping block are all dark hues, with the worst offender seemingly the most innocuous color you could think of: Black. What could California possibly have against these colors, you ask? Apparently, the California Air Resources Board figures that the climate control systems of dark colored cars need to work harder than their lighter siblings – especially after sitting in the sun for a few hours.

...can't paint suppliers just come up with new, less heat-absorbent dark paints? According to Ward's, suppliers have reportedly been testing their pigments and processes to see if it's possible to meet CARB's proposed mandate of 20% solar reflectivity by 2016 with a phase-in period starting in 2012, 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."