Auto Emissions

Auto Emissions

As long as automobiles have existed, they have spewed dangerous toxins into the air. The content and volume of these emissions have changed over the years. When leaded gasoline was the norm, the blood lead levels of the American population were significantly higher than they are today. Before catalytic converters, smog was an even worse problem, especially in car-heavy cities like Los Angeles. Currently, America's cars contribute to a staggering one-fifth of our nation’s carbon emissions and almost half of global automotive carbon emissions. 

Cry Wolf Quotes

I would hope we would never get into a position that we’d have to tell our customers they can’t buy certain cars because of the mileage requirements.

-
Richard Terrell, Vice Chairman of GM, Chicago Tribune.

We might have to take drastic action such as limiting production.

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Phil Benton, VP of Sales and Marketing for Ford, Chicago Tribune.

If the CAFE standard is too high, it adversely affects workers, manufacturers, and consumers alike.

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Transportation Secretary Jim Burnley, Toronto Globe & Mail.

With the Environmental Protection Agency laws, we’d either have to shut down or break the law, and we aren’t going to break the law.

-
Henry Ford II, Chicago Tribune.

Evidence

Backgrounders & Briefs

The Success of CAFE Standards

How the CAFE standard and its successes.

The Secret History of Lead

This immense article is an intricately detailed history of leaded gasoline, from the industry's early cover-ups to their attempts to defeat EPA regulations.

The Removal of Lead From Gasoline: Historical and Personal Reflections

First-person historical analysis of the leaded gasoline fight.