Worsening the Threat of Global Warming
Because the government classifies SUVs as "light trucks" rather
than cars, SUVs have a license to guzzle more gas and pollute more
than cars. In 1975, when fuel-economy standards were first adopted,
"light truck" referred to a vehicle used to haul hay on the farm or
gravel at a construction site. At that time, light trucks comprised
only 20 percent of the vehicle market. Today, SUVs, mini-vans and
other light trucks make up nearly half of new vehicles sold. They
are far more likely to haul lattés home from Starbucks than lumber
from the yard. Even though Detroit has technology that could make
them both cleaner and safer, SUVs and other light trucks are still
held to low environmental standards, roll over more than cars and
pose greater danger to other vehicles than cars do.
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The world's leading climate scientists have warned that
there is now 30 percent more carbon dioxide—the primary
global-warming gas—in the atmosphere than a century ago. The burning
of fossil fuels is the primary source of this CO2 pollution. Over
the same period of time, the average surface temperature of the
earth has risen more than 1 degree Fahrenheit.
Due to these changes, we are already seeing signs of global
warming. The 1990s was the hottest decade on record and the 11
hottest years on record have all occurred in the past 13 years.
Extreme drought conditions and changing rainfall patterns have
occurred across the country, setting the stage for wildfires, which
decimated areas from Florida to California. Record heat waves have
killed hundreds in Chicago and infectious-disease outbreaks linked
to global warming have sickened or killed hundreds from Texas to New
York, shut down Disney World and re-introduced Americans to dengue
fever, malaria and encephalitis. Sea levels have risen between four
and 10 inches and glacial ice is rapidly retreating on five
continents.
The world's leading scientists warn that over the 21st century,
CO2 levels are expected to double, raising sea levels two feet or
more, worsening smog and leaving our children to cope with a more
hostile climate.
America's cars and light trucks alone produce nearly 20 percent
of U.S. CO2 pollution. That's more than all but four countries
worldwide! And transportation is the fastest-growing sector of
global-warming pollution in the nation. Popular light trucks pump
out 237 million tons of global-warming pollution into our atmosphere
each year. That's because every gallon of gas burned emits 28 pounds
of CO2 into the atmosphere.
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