Emissions and Omissions - Technocratic Approaches to Tackle Pollution from Motor Vehicles

The US case on the introduction of emission standards from the late 1960s is discussed as an example of how standard setting can promote technological innovation. This happened in opposition to the auto-industry that opposed the new standards. The European industry argued that strict standards would hamper the development of new engine technologies, as i.e. the lean burn engine. The paper argues that this has not become the situation. Instead it argue that the emission standards has partly been important to open up several new tracks of technological development. It�s discussed in the paper how governmental regulation can be viewed as a representation, or a mirror, of how the society understands car driving and the culture of driving. With respect to this way of viewing regulation, it�s argued that setting technical standards and regulation becomes more complex than only being a neutral technical standard. Emission standards are not eliminating emissions, but represent a professional judgement, or a social contract or compromise between social groups or/and professional groups about what is acceptable.