California to EPA: Give States Green Light to Achieve Large Cuts in Global Warming Pollution from Cars and SUVs

“Cars and SUVs are a massive source of global warming pollution,” said Environment California Global Warming Advocate Jason Barbose. “As the Bush administration spins its wheels and delays action on global warming, the states are putting real solutions to work. States must be allowed to fight global warming,” he continued.

Environment California’s new report analyzes government data and non-profit studies to estimate the reduction in global warming emissions, reduction in oil consumption, and consumer savings that would result from the global warming emission standards for cars and SUVs that have been adopted by 12 states. The report also looks at the benefits from the additional six states that are considering the policy. Key findings include:

• The 12 states that have adopted the Clean Cars Program will cut global warming pollution from cars, light trucks and SUVs by 74 million metric tons per year in 2020.

• The cumulative global warming emission reduction from the program between
2009 and 2020 is 392 million metric tons, the equivalent to taking 74 million of today’s cars off the road for an entire year.

• Adoption by six additional states that are considering the policy would increase the total emission reduction to 100 million metric tons per year in 2020 and cumulative reductions to 536 million metric tons.

The Clean Cars Program will also reduce gasoline consumption and save money for consumers.

• The standards could reduce gasoline consumption by as much as 8.3 billion gallons per year in 2020—as much as is consumed by all the vehicles in Florida in a year.

• Consumers could save up to $25.8billion annually at the pump in 2020.

• If six more states adopt the Clean Cars Program, gasoline consumption could drop by a total of 11.2 billion gallons in 2020, saving $34.7 billion for consumers at the pump.

“It’s a win-win situation. Reducing global warming pollution from cars and SUVs will also start to reduce our dependence on oil and save consumers money at the gas pump,” said Barbose.

In late 2004, California adopted first-of-their-kind standards requiring cars and light-duty trucks to limit emissions that contribute to global warming. Since then, 11 other states—Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington—have adopted the tailpipe standards.

EPA has been sitting for 18 months on California’s request for a waiver under the Clean Air Act, which EPA has routinely issued more than 50 times in the last four decades, in effect blocking implementation of the emission standards in California and other states. Passenger vehicles are the second largest source of global warming emissions nationwide.

EPA is holding two public hearings on the waiver request – one today, and the second next week in Sacramento. EPA scheduled the hearings and opened a public comment period on the issue after the Supreme Court ruled in April that the Clean Air Act gives EPA the authority to regulate carbon dioxide and other global warming pollutants from cars.

“The Bush EPA’s failure to give the states the stamp of approval to put cleaner cars on the road is more than just bureaucratic delay. It marks a clear decision to cater to powerful corporate interests instead of protecting the public from very real risks,” said Barbose. “The Bush EPA should immediately give California and the other states the green light to put clean cars on the road, he concluded.

Earlier this year, the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concluded that global warming will lead to more droughts, floods, heat waves, water stress, forest fires, and coastal flooding in the U.S., but that “many impacts can be avoided, reduced, or delayed” by reining in global warming emissions.