EPA unveils clean car standards for light-duty vehicles

WASHINGTON — Today the Environmental Protection Agency finalized clean car standards that aim to significantly cut greenhouse gas and other harmful tailpipe pollution from light-duty vehicles. Light-duty vehicles are responsible for more than half of all greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector, which is the largest source of greenhouse gas pollution nationwide.  

“These rules are a cornerstone of EPA’s work to combat climate change and we support the agency’s efforts to clean up the transportation sector,” said SELC senior attorney Garrett Gee. “Reducing air pollution from cars will have huge benefits for communities in the South and across the nation.”  

Reducing or eliminating tailpipe pollution from passenger vehicles will not only help fight climate change, but it will also reduce other hazardous tailpipe pollution that disproportionately impacts communities of color and low wealth communities. EPA projects that these standards will avoid 7.2 billion tons of greenhouse gas pollution through 2055 and reduce fine particulate matter from these vehicles by over 95 percent.  

“These more protective standards put us on the path to eliminating tailpipe pollution. With so many Americans reliant on cars and trucks to move around in their daily lives, we strongly support policies like this that push auto manufacturers to use readily available technology that will make our air cleaner and our communities healthier,” said Trip Pollard, senior attorney and leader of SELC’s transportation work.