Don't Blame Cars for Smog, AAA Says WASHINGTON, DC, September 29, 1999 (ENS) - Federal regulators should refocus efforts to cut air pollution away from automobiles, the motorists advocacy group AAA said today. Smog from motor vehicles has declined much faster than pollution from other sources, and AAA says its time to give drivers and automakers a break - and concentrate on power plants and factories instead. In a report released today in Washington DC, AAA - formerly the American Automobile Association - presents evidence of major reductions in air pollution from automobiles, despite the growing number of vehicles on the road and miles driven. The study is based on data submitted to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency by local air planning agencies. The study even includes emissions from light trucks, sport utility vehicles and minivans, which are not held to the same emissions and fuel efficiency standards as cars. "Clearing the Air - 1999" is the third such study performed by AAA. "Overall air quality in our cities is improving, and it's due in large part to the automobile," says Susan Pikrallidas, AAA interim vice president of public relations. "This study confirms that smog produced by automobiles continues to decline and does not contribute inordinately to ozone problems in our cities when compared to the contribution of other sources." The study, conducted by Virginia based Energy
& Environmental Analysis, Inc., examined pollution from
cars and light trucks; stationary sources such as power
plants, factories, refineries and commercial businesses;
paints, cleaning solvents and other products; road vehicles
like motorcycles and large trucks; and other mobile sources
such as airplanes, boats, lawn mowers, trains and construction
equipment. Since 1970, VOCs emissions from all sources
have decreased by 56 percent, and NOx emissions have fallen
by four percent, the study finds. During the same 30 year
period, passenger vehicles have cut VOCs by 80 percent and
NOx by 38 percent. AAA attributes the reductions to the production of cleaner cars, stimulated by the tightening of federal tailpipe emissions standards, cleaner gasoline and more effective state inspections. The group projects continued significant decreases in pollution from autos through at least 2005. "Through these studies, AAA sends a clear message to governments - federal, state and local - that they need to go beyond simply targeting passenger vehicles if they hope to make any real progress in further cutting the smog in our cities," says Pikrallidas. Environmentalists challenge AAAs conclusions.
Daniel Becker, director of the Sierra Club's global warming
and energy program said in a statement, "It sounds
like AAA has been breathing too much smog. A third of the
nation's smog and 20 percent of the nation's global warming
pollution spew out of America's tailpipes. With asthmatic
children being hospitalized at an ever increasing rate,
it is foolhardy and callous for AAA to imply that now is
the time to let up on auto pollution." "This is not a contest," Cohen said. "Letting motor vehicles off the hook for their past performance is not a useful way of combating air pollution." ©Environment News Service (ENS) 1999. All Rights Reserved. Top of Page |