Cleaner Cars

New EPA standards will regulate greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks through 2016 requiring a base efficiency of 34 miles per gallon in six years’ time. “The nation’s first mandatory attempt to cut back on greenhouse gas emissions is now a fact—and it will show up in a driveway near you in 2012. The new policy, aimed at combating climate change, will curb the greenhouse gases spewing from car and truck tailpipes.The new rules will be phased in starting in 2012 and require a roughly 5 percent cut in greenhouse gas emissions, along with a boost in fuel efficiency every year thereafter. By 2016, a manufacturer’s full spread of vehicles for sale must emit an average of no more than 250 grams of carbon dioxide per mile (5.5. ounces per kilometer), down from an average of 400 grams per mile today. Ultimately, the EPA estimates that the rules will reduce CO2 emissions by nearly one billion metric tons, or roughly equivalent to taking 30 million cars and light trucks off the roads.”