Cars and truck account for 20% of all U.S. global warming emissions, where more than 24 pounds per gallon of carbon dioxide and other global warming gases come right out of the car’s tailpipe (“Union of Concerned scientists”). This frightening statistic is part of the reason why the federal government has put in place many policies and incentives such as the Clean Air Act, The National Program for greenhouse gas emissions, Catalytic Converter Federal Laws, and incentives of $12,000 in California to get people to upgrade to more fuel-efficient cars. With such programs and incentives put in places, it is also important that car companies such as Toyota and Ford also take action to further cut pollution rates. They have done so by …show more content…
The pollutants that were controlled were carbon monoxide(CO), volatile organic compounds(VOC), and oxides of nitrogen(NOx), where the NOx standard was 3.1 grams per mile (EPA). These three pollutants can cause a wide variety of health issues, some of which include your brain not getting enough oxygen, damage to the respiratory system, damage of lung function, cardiovascular problems, and cancer (“Types of Air Pollution Caused by Cars”). Over the next couple decades’ car emission control became stricter and standards tightened and evolved to .07 grams per mile of NOx in 2009 which is a 77% decrease from its previous standard of .3 in 1999. Alongside federal actions, California has been leading the global fight against climate change.
California Governor Jerry Brown has a plan to put 1.5 million zero-emission cars on the state roads in the next decade and has signed 11 bills related to global warming. Some of these efforts include 15,000 permits for clean-air cars to use car-pool lanes, requirements for counties to speed up permits for residential solar-power installations, and rebates to lower income resident to buy more fuel-efficient cars. He enacted a law that requires California power companies to get at least a third of their electricity from renewable resources by 2020. One of the largest incentives that Jerry Brown has put into place has been rebates for upgrading to more fuel-efficient cars, where the state of
With the automobile, came one of the most widely used technologies in the world, the invention of the internal combustion engine which has left a noticeable impact on many parts of today’s world. One of the most widely debated and controversial topics having to do with the automobile is its effect on the environment. Al Gore, former United States Vice President and Nobel Peace Prize award winner, has spent many years trying to argue the negative effects that the internal combustion engine leaves on our planet. In his presidential campaign in 2000, he preached the ideas of a cleaner environment and better ways of living. He said, “When we seek to artificially enhance our capacity to acquire what we need from the earth, we do so at the direct expense of the earth’s ability to provide naturally what we are seeking. We frequently ignore the impact of our technological alchemy on natural processes. When we manufacture millions of internal combustion engines and automate the conversion of oxygen to CO2, we interfere with the earth’s ability to cleanse itself of the impurities that are normally removed from the atmosphere.” He has led many people to believe that the automobile of today is leaving a terrible and lasting effect on the earth’s atmosphere, and that it is one of the primary causes of the term “Global Warming.” Although Gore has had a giant following and
There are various types of air pollution contributors in California such as fire generated pollutants and vehicle traffic, which add particulate matter and carbon monoxide into the air we breathe. According to an article by Union of Concerned Scientists (Cars, trucks, and air pollution, 2014) particulate matter is made up of fine particles soot and metal that can pose serious threats to human health when deep in the lungs. Other pollutants emitted from vehicles are: nitrogen oxide which lowers the body’s defense system against respiratory infections such as pneumonia, carbon monoxide which blocks oxygen from reaching vital organs, sulfur dioxide which is emitted by both power plants and vehicles affect children and asthmatics, and hazardous air pollutants (toxics) which are chemicals that are linked to cancer, birth defects and other illnesses (Union of Concerned Scientists, 2014).
There are a couple factors that cause the “sky-high” gas prices in California, but a main contributor is an anti-carbon regulation.
Beginning January 1, 2017, at least 3% of the aggregate amount of bulk transportation fuel purchased by the state government must be from very low carbon transportation fuel sources. Beginning January 1, 2018, the required amount of very low carbon transportation fuel purchased will increase by 1% annually until January 1, 2024. California is doing their part by trying to minimize pollution until a safer alternative fuel has arrived. Yet, if
“1 gallon of gas =24 pounds of global warming emissions” (UCSUSA). Many of the people in our world today don’t understand just how much The Automobile affects us, our lives, and the world we live in. Undoubtedly, the invention of the car has changed our perspective on the different technology created over the past years. However, cars are some of the leading factors towards one of the largest ongoing problems occurring in our world today. That problem goes by the name of global warming. “Since 1990, Transportation has been one of the fastest growing sources of U.S. GHG” (U.S.D.T), otherwise known as Greenhouse gasses. In which most of us know; global warming affects our health, environment, weather, and ultimately our lives. It is a
We all know that the Global Warming is a serious issue to be addressed. This is the right time to realize the importance of eco-friendly products to save the earth from global warming and its ill effects. Unfortunately the automobile emissions are the second largest contributors for the green house gases.
The second largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States is related to transportation, the burning of oil to produce energy in a combustion motor. The combustion process inside of engines is what produces the carbon matter that is emitted into the air through the exhaust system on gas-powered vehicles. Gas-powered transportation is accountable for 24 percent of the global carbon emissions; this should not come as much of a surprise given the amount of urban sprawl that is being seen in the United States and across the globe. In the past decade, the Environmental Protection Agency, the United States government, and major car manufacturers have been working in conjunction to find ways to provide a “greener” form of transportation (EPA, 2011). This has included testing the use of hydropower, ethanol, natural gas, biodiesel, and electricity as a means of powering vehicles, which has led to the introduction of hybrid vehicles. Hybrid vehicles run on electricity and gasoline, the byproduct of oil that is generally used in the engine combustion process of vehicles (U.S. Department of
As we know, California is fighting to have an emission standard implemented on the state
In order to examine and combat global warming, Senator Bernie Sanders and Barbara Boxer introduced the Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act of 2007 on Jan 15th, 2007. The act was proposed to increase performance abilities for electricity generation and motor vehicles with the choice in emissions “cap and trade” system. Unfortunately, the bill failed to pass committee in 2013. (Environmental Defense Fund, 2007)
As western society has been aggressively expanding, the consumption of materials has followed suit. This leads to a negative effect on the environment. To curb the decay of the planet, it is important for humans to have a handle on how much we consume. One consequence of consumption is the emissions produced by our vehicles. It is crucial to develop a government policy that most effectively controls and reduces the amount of these emissions we give off. While the government has introduced many subsidization policies, the most efficient policy the government could enact is to raise the taxes on gas.
The Californian Air Resource Board (CARB) was enacted by the Californian legislation in 2002 to achieve the maximum feasible and cost-effective reduction of GHG’s from California’s motorcycle. CARB has proposed new near-term standards to be phased in from 2009 through 2012, and mid-term standards to be phased in from 2013 through 2016. The GHG emission standards will be incorporated directly into the current low emission vehicle (LEV) programs, along with other light-and medium-duty automotive emission standards. The LEV program applies to passenger cars, light-duty trucks, and medium-duty vehicles weighing 8,500 to 10,000 pounds, and it establishes exhaust emission standards. Accordingly, there would be a GHG emission fleet-average requirement
Climate change and transportation play a big role and it is important to be concerned for our future generations. The use of gasoline cars is a major producer in carbon dioxide emissions, although they are not entirely responsible for it—they play a role in it. Other form of transportations like buses and taxis also contribute to carbon dioxide emissions. The total amount of carbon dioxide emissions from an average car is seventy six percent which comes from usage of a vehicle containing gasoline. Efficiency has increased by twenty percent in regards to electric motors, especially when it comes to their wheels using no power when the car is at rest. Car ownership will increase and with this, improvements in technology could be a vital
Transportation is the number one thing we consumers do that harms the environment. Transportation causes the highest amount of environmental damage overall - nearly half of the toxic air pollution and more than a quarter of the greenhouse gases traceable to household consumption. Over time, however, sales of trucks, vans and SUV's went from 16% market share to over 50%. One big auto manufacturer even shelved their work of the last three years, spent updating their most popular selling economy car, so they could spend the money getting SUVs to market faster.
We all know that the Global Warming is a serious issue to be addressed. This is the right time to realize the importance of eco-friendly products to save the earth from global warming and its ill effects. Unfortunately the automobile emissions are the second largest contributors for the green house gases.
Automobiles are a major producer of greenhouse gas. One gallon of fuel burned puts five pounds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Let’s say that an average car gets 25 miles to the gallon, and that car has a ten gallon tank. Every time a car gets filled up with gas, another fifty pounds of carbon dioxide have been put back into the atmosphere, and that is just one car. The automobile industry is very important to the world economy, so I am not saying that we should stop making cars, but there are other solutions. The recent trend of hybrid electric cars that get up to fifty miles to the gallon are becoming more popular. Also public transportation is very important. City dwellers that live downtown, do not need to drive their cars to work. Every major city has a form of public transportation that can get anyone around the city, and for that gallon of gas a bus burns the same five pounds reaches the atmosphere, but instead of one