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The Color Nazis at the California Air Resources Board has backed off of a proposed regulation that would have required dark colored vehicles to have reflective paint to keep vehicle interiors cool thereby reducing the load on the air conditioning system. What this may have done would be the elimination of black, dark blue, dark green, dark grey paint colors. All are popular in the State.
The fact of the matter is that interior heat load is determined more by the tint of the glass than of the color of the vehicle. Maybe CARB does now recognize this because they have changed their position. See the following excerpt from their March 27, 2009 Press Release and quotes from the CARB website…
From the website: “In 2006, California adopted the California Global Warming Solutions Act, also known as AB 32. This law created a comprehensive, long term plan for California to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020.

Cool Paints was identified as an Early Action strategy, to be in place no later than January 1, 2010. This strategy is based on measures to reduce the solar heat gain in a vehicle parked in the sun. A cooler interior would make drivers less likely to activate the air conditioner, which increases carbon dioxide emissions.
Potential approaches include reformulation of paint to reflect near-infrared sunlight, parked car ventilation, and solar reflective window glazing. It is expected that cool paints, together with reflective glazing, will reduce the soak temperature of the typical vehicle parked in the sun by 5 to10 degrees celsius. Click here to discover the ultimate guide to paint protection films for cars.

From the CARB March 27, 2009 Press Release: “Of note, the proposal now specifies solar control requirements only for new vehicles windows (glazing). The original proposed regulation contained requirements for both vehicle paint and windows to improve their ability to reflect heat from the sun. The intent of the paint requirements was to introduce reflective paint (currently used in architectural paints to keep houses and businesses cool) into the automotive arena. The requirement was never at any point to limit consumer color choices or ban any colors. Based on input from the automotive industry, paint, pigment suppliers, and comments from a public workshop held on March 12th, ARB staff has determined that a clear path to achieve solar reflectivity for the darker colors has not yet been identified. We are planning to address the paint-related portion
of the proposal in a future regulatory action. ”
So, for now, it appears that darker colors are safe.