The Environmental Protection Agency today announced a bold plan to reduce pollution from cars and trucks, including popular sport utility vehicles. EPA's new tailpipe standards will phase out light truck loopholes by 2009, requiring automakers to produce SUVs as clean as cars. Particularly noteworthy is the agency's foresight in addressing the growing market of super-large SUVs, like Ford's new Excursion, under the new rules. The rules also require dramatic reductions in the amount of sulfur in gasoline.
Sulfur disables emission-control systems, increasing pollution from cars and trucks.
By closing the loophole that allows SUVs to pollute three to five times more than the average car, the administration is giving us the promise of clean air this holiday season. Passenger vehicle travel has nearly tripled over the past three decades, while SUV sales have increased tenfold over the past two decades. A recent UCS analysis, Greener SUVs, suggests that the technology is readily available to produce Tier 2-compliant SUVs far ahead of the 2009 deadline. Unfortunately, today's rule also leaves the door open for the auto industry to produce dirtier diesel passenger vehicles. Many public health agencies have classified diesel soot as a potential human carcinogen.