Report Documents Availability, Consumer Demand, For Cleaner Cars
As the new home of NCPIRG's environmental work,
Environment North Carolina can be contacted with any questions regarding this
news release.
RALEIGH—Manufacturers
have the technology to roll out more low-polluting cars, trucks and buses, and
consumers are ready to buy them, according to a new report
released today in Raleigh. On one of the smoggiest days of the summer, clean
air advocates used the study, "Ready
to Roll: The Benefits of Today’s Advanced Technology Vehicles for North
Carolina", to demonstrate that tighter auto emissions standards will
improve North Carolina’s air quality and meet a warm welcome from the state’s
consumers.
"Having more clean cars on the road is a key step in improving the quality
of the air we all breathe," said Sen. Wib Gulley (Durham), sponsor of the
NC Clean Vehicles bill. "Everyone in North Carolina will benefit when auto
manufacturers offer more choices and sell thousands of new, cleaner cars to
our state's consumers."
A number of recent studies have documented North Carolina’s increasing
air pollution and its effects on human health and the environment. In May, the
American Lung Association’s State of the Air report ranked the Triangle,
Triad and Charlotte in the top 25 worst metropolitan areas in the nation for
smog pollution. Last week, the Surface Transportation Policy Project ranked
those same regions among the 40 worst in air quality. Meanwhile, state officials
have identified areas in 35 counties that would not meet federal air quality
standards because of smog or ozone pollution.
"Sadly, North Carolina has some of the nation’s worst air quality,"
said Elizabeth Ouzts, director of North Carolina Public Interest Research Group
(NCPIRG), which authored the report. "But a tough clean car standard will
slash the sort of toxic and smog pollution millions of North Carolinians experience
on days like today."
Cars, trucks, and buses are a significant source of both smog forming pollutants
and dangerous air toxics in the state. In metropolitan areas, they contribute
to roughly half of all smog pollution. "Ready to Roll" shows that
numerous types of vehicles are being produced across the country that are more
than 90 percent cleaner than today’s autos. Among them:
• Hybrid-electric vehicles:
More than 65,000 hybrid-electric vehicles have been sold in the United States
since 1999. Sixty percent of potential vehicle-buyers nationwide stated they
would consider buying a hybrid.
• Natural Gas Vehicles: More than 120,000 natural gas vehicles are currently
on American roads, but only one auto-maker offers them for sale to the general
public.
• Clean conventional vehicles: Seven auto-makers now manufacture vehicles
that would meet the standards of the Clean Vehicles bill, but are only available
in states that have already adopted the program. "Ready to Roll" shows
that adoption of the Clean Vehicles program would put hundreds of thousands
of clean cars on the state’s roads by the end of the decade, at minimal
cost to auto-makers and potential benefit to consumers.
• The Clean Vehicles program would require auto-makers to sell roughly
107,000 hybrid-electric vehicles and 587,000 clean conventional vehicles in
North Carolina between 2007 and 2011.
• Installing the technology to meet these targets would cost auto-makers
$26 million in 2007, a fraction of a percent of sales by new car dealers in
North Carolina, and .0004 percent of the gross revenue of the six major auto-makers
• Most auto-makers have chosen not to pass on costs of the new technology
to consumers. If the costs of hybrid-electric vehicles decrease as anticipated,
and gasoline prices rise, consumers will see a net financial benefit from purchasing
more efficient hybrid electric vehicles.
In April, Sen. Wib Gulley and Rep. Martha Alexander introduced companion NC
Clean Vehicles bills, which would require auto manufacturers to make available
for sale a set percentage of advanced technology vehicles beginning in 2007.
Previous studies have shown that this program would reduce smog pollution by
12 percent and toxic pollution 14 percent over and above reductions gained from
current regulation—helping North Carolina counties come closer to attainment
with federal air quality standards. Lawmakers hope to bring the bill up for
study in the interim.
"We applaud Sen. Gulley and Rep. Alexander for introducing this important
clean car legislation," said Tom Bean, lobbyist for Environmental Defense.
"The sooner NC moves forward with the new clean car standard, the sooner
its citizens will breathe easier."
