campaign
Building a Greener Sport Utility Vehicle
Sport
utility vehicles (SUVs), minivans, and other light trucks now
constitute half the new passenger vehicles purchased each year. Yet
they inflict far greater damage to our environment than cars: 47
percent more smog-forming pollution and 43 percent more
global-warming gases. Automakers have taken advantage of a loophole
in federal air-quality and fuel-economy requirements that was
originally created because of the heavier demands on light trucks.
The loopholes for SUVs and minivans has caused:
- 1.8 million additional
tons per year of smog-forming pollutants
- 237 million additional
tons per year of global-warming pollution
- 18.4 billion additional
gallons per year of gasoline use.
We need to close the SUV/minivan
loophole now!
UCS's
Campaign
SUVs and minivans should be held to the same air-quality and
fuel-efficiency standards as cars. California has already closed the
"SUV loophole" for air-quality requirements and will require all
SUVs and minivans beginning with Model Year '04 to meet the same
air-quality standards as other passenger vehicles. The federal
government should do the same for air-quality and fuel-efficiency
standards.
Goals
- Educate the public that
SUVs and minivans are heavier polluters than cars.
- Encourage the Senate to
pass stronger Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE)
standards.
- Get the EPA to close
smog-forming pollution loopholes for SUVs and minivans in federal
tailpipe emission standards.
UCS's Work
Our report, Greener
SUVs: A Blueprint for Cleaner, More Efficient Light
Trucks, outlines how SUVs can be designed to lessen their
environmental effects. This report shows that automakers can design
SUVs that meet stricter air pollution and fuel economy standards
without sacrificing performance or substantially raising
cost.
Since automakers are
dragging their feet, federal policies must encourage them to build
better SUVs and light trucks.
What You Can
Do
Until SUVs become cleaner
and more fuel efficient, the most effective action you can take is
to not purchase one. But automakers won't produce better light
trucks unless environmental standards require them to do so. By
contacting elected officials, you can help ensure that automakers
produce the cleanest, most fuel-efficient light trucks
possible. |
Cars
and SUVs
