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Florida’s Environmental Regulation Commission is set to vote tomorrow on new carbon emission standards for vehicles sold in the state. The new standards could cut car pollution in Florida by 40 percent, but as Whitney Ray tells us it could also raise the price you pay for a new car.

Here it Here: Clean Cars

Move over gas guzzlers, there’s a new fleet of vehicles in town and these cars, trucks and SUV’s don’t need a lot of gas to get down the road. This Chevy Silverado runs on ethanol and this Toyota uses battery power.

“That’s for the first 40 miles, so after that it becomes like a regular Prius. It uses gasoline as its back up,” said the car’s owner Fran Sullivan-Fahs.

Environmental groups showcased the fuel efficient fleet at the state capitol. It’s part of their campaign to enact stricter carbon emission standards.

“This will help us reduce global warming in the state of Florida,” said Eric Draper with Florida Audubon.

Tuesday the Environmental Regulation Commission will vote on a set of rules that would require Florida auto dealers to sell only cars that release low carbon emissions

While environmentalists say adopting the new standards would cut carbon emissions by 40 percent, automakers worry about how the new rules would affect the price.

More fuel efficient vehicles, like hybrids, cost thousands more, but demand continues to outpace supply. Salesman Mickey Atkinson said Ford can’t keep its hybrids on the lot.

“If we had better availability we could sell more of them,” said Atkinson.

One reason hybrids are hard to find is because automakers are sending most of them to the 12 other states that have already adopted standards similar to the ones Florida is considering.

If the Environmental Regulation Commission approves the new emission standards, State Lawmakers would also have to sign off before the standards would go into effect.