Over Oil Industry Objections, EPA Sets Lifesaving New Standards for Gasoline and Tailpipe Pollution

[ProSense]

Peter Lehner’s Blog

Over Oil Industry Objections, EPA Sets Lifesaving New Standards for Gasoline and Tailpipe Pollution

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The EPA’s new standards will reduce the amount of sulfur in gasoline by two-thirds. This will have an immediate impact on air quality. Sulfur, in addition to being a source of air pollution, builds up in your car’s exhaust system and makes emissions control less effective. When every gas-powered car on the road fills up with cleaner, lower-sulfur gasoline, they’ll all start running cleaner—even older vehicles. Smog-forming pollution is expected drop by 260,000 tons by 2018, a year after the new standards take effect--that’s the equivalent of replacing roughly 30 million of today’s cars with zero-emission vehicles.

With less sulfur in the fuel tank to gum up the works, automakers can move ahead with cleaner engines and exhaust systems optimized for cleaner gasoline. Vehicles built in 2017 and beyond will produce 80 percent less smog-forming pollution, and 70 percent less particle pollution, or soot, than cars built under today’s tailpipe standards. Soot is a particularly harmful type of air pollution, because very tiny particles can lodge deep in the lungs or even enter the bloodstream. It’s been linked to premature death, heart attacks, aggravated asthma and other heart and lung problems.

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The oil industry voiced similar concerns about earlier sulfur reductions, which were achieved successfully, as well objecting to the removal of lead from gasoline, which NRDC began advocating for in the 1970s. Lead standards, which NRDC helped push through in the United States and then worked to expand globally, have effectively gotten rid of lead in gasoline around the world, resulting in a remarkable 90 percent drop in blood lead levels globally, and an estimated $2.4 trillion in annual health, societal and economic benefits. This is truly amazing public health victory, achieved at a fraction of the cost the industry claimed.

Like removing lead from gasoline, reducing sulfur and tailpipe emissions is an important win for clean air and public health. Clearing the air of lung-damaging pollution will save thousands of lives. It means fewer trips to the emergency room with an acute asthma attack or irregular heartbeat; fewer days when asthmatic kids can’t go outside and play. These are cost-effective, health-protective standards that will produce real benefits for millions of Americans who can look forward to breathing cleaner air.

http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/plehner/over_oil_industry_objections_e.html

New Gasoline and Auto Pollution Standards Will Clean Our Air, Protect Our Health and Save Money

NRDC: “EPA resisted extensive pressure from Big Oil companies to issue standards that will save thousands of lives.”

WASHINGTON (March 3, 2014) – The Environmental Protection Agency's new standards for gasoline and vehicle emissions announced today will dramatically reduce harmful air pollution such as smog-forming chemicals and dangerous soot.

Luke Tonachel, senior vehicles analyst at the Natural Resources Defense Council, made the following comment:

“These standards will clean our air, protect our health and save money.

“EPA resisted extensive pressure from Big Oil companies to issue standards that will save thousands of lives.”

The so-called Tier 3 standards require gasoline sulfur levels to be reduced by two thirds from 30 ppm to 10 ppm. The lower-sulfur gasoline will cut pollution from existing vehicles and enable new vehicles to meet tighter tailpipe standards. The fleet of vehicles meeting Tier 3 standards will cut emissions of the principal components of lung-damaging ground-level ozone, or smog—including nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds—by 80 percent compared to today’s vehicles. Under Tier 3, per-car emissions of particulate matter, or soot, will drop by 70 percent. Exposure to soot harms proper heart and lung function and is linked to premature death.

The impact of the proposed standards on gasoline prices is projected to be less than a penny per gallon, according to the EPA. In return, Americans will save up to $19 billion per year in health-related costs by 2030 because cleaner air from the standards will prevent thousands of asthma attacks and other breathing difficulties annually and prevent up to roughly 2,000 premature deaths each year.

Automakers and labor, consumers and public health advocates all support the Tier 3 standards. NRDC, with many of its allies, urged that the improved standards be finished by the end of 2013. While the finalization of the standards was delayed a couple of months, it retains the 2017 implementation timelines for cars and gasoline and therefore preserves the environmental and health benefits of the proposed standards.

http://www.nrdc.org/media/2014/140303.asp

[sheshe2]

1. I am more than willing to pay

The impact of the proposed standards on gasoline prices is projected to be less than a penny per gallon, according to the EPA. In return, Americans will save up to $19 billion per year in health-related costs by 2030 because cleaner air

for a healthier environment for us all.

Great to hear the news from the EPA.

Thanks PS.

[ProSense]

4. Sierra Club statement

Obama Administration Finalizes Cleaner Tailpipe Standards

(Washington, DC) Today, the Obama Administration finalized cleaner tailpipe standards that will reduce smog-forming pollution from cars and trucks. Smog, also known as ozone, is a toxic compound that causes a wide range of health problems, from asthma attacks to heart disease. These standards, also known as “Tier 3,” will require refiners to reduce the sulfur content of gasoline and automakers to use advanced pollution control technology, starting in 2017.

Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune released the following statement in response:

“Today, more than four in ten Americans live in places where the air is sometimes dangerous to breathe, due in part to pollution from cars and trucks. When these cleaner tailpipe standards go into effect in 2017, Americans will breathe easier, and they will feel the benefits of cleaner cars and trucks almost immediately.

“Despite Big Oil’s attempts to derail and delay these commonsense, public health standards, the Obama Administration stood firm. These new standards will save lives, reduce asthma attacks, clean up air pollution, and create American jobs.

“The Sierra Club and our 2.4 million members and supporters applaud President Obama for finalizing cleaner tailpipe standards to strengthen his legacy of cleaner, more efficient vehicles, and commonsense public health protections.”

http://content.sierraclub.org/press-releases/2014/03/obama-administration-finalizes-cleaner-tailpipe-standards

[sheshe2]

5. Good for them!

“The Sierra Club and our 2.4 million members and supporters applaud President Obama for finalizing cleaner tailpipe standards to strengthen his legacy of cleaner, more efficient vehicles, and commonsense public health protections.”

Again, 2.4 million support this!



Thanks~

[ProSense]

6. This is good:

Obama Science Advisor John Holdren Schools Political Scientist Roger Pielke On Climate And Drought
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024597618

This really need to be spread widely.

[okaawhatever]

2. What's sad is that that ruling probably just put millions into the campaign coffers of Republicans

who will overturn it if they get into office. Happy about the ruling, we must elect Democrats in 2014.

[Pretzel_Warrior]

3. This is great news