In 1975, when those standards were set, only about 20 percent of the vehicles on the road were light trucks. Today, SUVs and minivans are included in the light truck designation and account for over half of all vehicles sold. Few are used to haul anything other than groceries and children, being driven tens of thousands of miles more than light trucks were projected to travel each year. SUVs get as little as 13 miles to a gallon of gas and emit huge amounts of pollution. By contrast, a Honda Insight gets 65 mpg and emits 32 tons of carbon dioxide over its useable life.
Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas considered a major factor in global warming.
Many technologies exist that could turn a Ford Explorer from a 19.3 mpg guzzler into a 34.1 mpg vehicle. Incredibly, cars made before 1975, often the most serious polluters, are totally exempted from government smog rules. We must put behind us the false belief that environmental protection and the elimination of toxic substances from our earth, air and water are just another set of tradeoffs to be weighed against economic growth. Profitability cannot be measured only by how much one's bank account grows. Healthy earth, air, and water must start appearing on the spreadsheets of industry.