Clean Car Standards
Federal Clean Car Standards
ELPC has worked for years to promote standards that will increase fuel economy and decrease global warming pollution from cars and trucks. The Federal government has moved to enact clean car standards similar to those to those ELPC supported and considered by the Illinois General Assembly in HB422 and SB1941 (96th Assembly).
Under the new standards, average fuel economy for passenger cars will increase from 27.5 mpg in 2009 to 37.8 mpg by 2016 – an improvement of nearly 40 percent. Building cleaner cars will reduce lifetime greenhouse gas pollution from vehicles produced between 2012 and 2016 by over 655 million tons. By 2030, the 2012-2016 standards will reduce GHG emissions from the U.S. light-duty fleet by approximately 21 percent.
The shift toward cleaner cars also presents an opportunity for manufacturing centers in the Midwest, as carmakers develop more efficient technologies and better pollution controls. ELPC believes the Midwest should be a leader in capturing the jobs of the future, building new, cleaner cars that increase our energy independence and reduce pollution.
New standards for cars of the future are predicted to save as much as 11.6 billion gallons of gasoline per year by 2016 (equal to half the oil the U.S. imports from Saudi Arabia) and save consumers up to $31.8 billion annually at the pump.
More information:
ELPC’s report on the health and environmental benefits of clean car standards to Illinois: Breathing Free in Illinois
For more information on state by state benefits, please see Environment America’s report: State Leadership and the National Clean Cars Program