smog
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Ethanol is known as an alternative fuel, and is even renewable. But that doesn't always make it clean. The Environmental Protection Agency, after proposing watered down emissions and fuel economy standards for cars, has now released a proposal to increase the amount of ethanol blended into pump gas year-round, including selling E15 in the summer. READ THIS: Trump expected to lift E15 ban limiting ethanol in summer gasoline Currently ethanol blending is restricted between June 1 and September 1, because a higher ratio of ethanol has been flagged by scientists and environmental groups for being...
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Report: Trump EPA plans to cancel California emissions waiver
The EPA is planning to cancel the special waiver that California has relied on since 1970 to set its own emissions standards, according to a Bloomberg report. As part of its plan to reverse a program to steadily tighten fuel economy standards that it coordinates with California and the National...
Eric C. Evarts -
An Earth Day question: When will we see 'tailpipes' on cars as morally wrong?
With increasing availability of zero-emission cars over the coming years, when will citizens at large start to question the idea that every vehicle has an "exhaust pipe" that just belches harmful substances into our shared air?
John Voelcker -
German court rules cities may ban older diesel vehicles to cut air pollution
That huge intake of breath you may have heard from across the Atlantic Ocean was the sound of German carmakers gasping at a court decision handed down on Tuesday. After a week's delay in issuing its ruling, a German court decided that individual cities in the country may ban vehicles with diesel...
John Voelcker -
London's $27 entry charge for pre-2016 diesel cars to start April 2019
For more than 13 years, London has collected a stiff charge from motor vehicles entering the congested core of the city during weekday business hours. Known as the congestion charge, the fee of £11.50 a day, or $14.50 (£10 with automatic payment, or $12.50) is levied from 6 am to 7 pm...
John Voelcker -
California conundrum: 2018 Leaf, Bolt EV, or Mirai fuel-cell car?
California is very different from the rest of the United States. All by itself, it's the sixth largest economy in the world. One eighth of all Americans live there. It's home to Silicon Valley, as well as much of the global entertainment industry, and it produces a large proportion of the nation's...
John Voelcker -
Air in Beijing was so bad last week that drivers couldn't see.
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Beijing Smog: So Bad That Emergency Plans Ban Half Its Cars Each Day
Beijing will enact an odd-even license-plate system that will restrict when people can drive.
Stephen Edelstein -
CA Smog Plan Approved By State & EPA Isn't Tough Enough: Lawsuit
Four groups are suing over a Los Angeles-area smog-reduction plan they say isn't strict enough.
Stephen Edelstein -
Diesel Pollution In London Makes Air Worse Than Beijing For Nitrous Oxides
There's a lot of talk about so-called clean diesel, which in North America means any diesel that meets tailpipe emissions standards that went into effect seven years ago. Those standards, known as Tier II, Bin 5, are among the strictest in the world--and considerably tougher than the European...
John Voelcker -
Will California Pioneer A World Beyond Cars This Century?
It's almost inconceivable, the idea of a world without personally-owned automobiles. But that's the startling vision proposed by noted researcher Tom Turrentine and colleagues, in a recent paper published online in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, entitled "California: Beyond cars?" (PDF)...
John Voelcker -
China To Ban 6 Million Gross Polluters From Roads In Smog Fight
China will step up enforcement of emissions standards, removing 6 million of the worst-polluting vehicles from its roads.
Stephen Edelstein -
California dominates the list of most-polluted U.S. cities, justifying its stricter environmental regulations.
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China's Electric-Car Future: Government Subsidies, Buyer Resistance
Over the last few years, China has experienced some of the highest city pollution concentrations anywhere on earth--with concentrations of pollutants climbing far past dangerous levels on official scales. Roughly a quarter of that is due to heavy traffic, and it's prompted legislation to clean up...
Antony Ingram -
Honda Film: Controlling Air Pollution A 'Never-Ending Race'
The latest film in Honda's Environmental Short Film series focuses on the company's response to 1970s California air pollution.
Stephen Edelstein -
Cars Are Getting Cleaner, Could Greener Roads Be Next?
It was the terrible smog of cities like Los Angeles in the 1970s that prompted a huge change in the efficiency and pollution controls of automobiles. Today, cars are many orders of magnitude cleaner than their counterparts from previous decades. But what if our roads could help further? No, not by...
Antony Ingram -
Smog-Choked Chinese City Bans Car Sales, Adds Lottery For Permits
China is fast becoming an air quality disaster zone. On several occasions over the past six months, smog levels in major cities have reached hazardous levels, requiring fast action and dramatic changes from policymakers. The latest can be found in Shijiazhuang, the capital city of the...
Antony Ingram -
Beijing Adds Pollution Tax To Fuel To Curb Huge Smog Problems
Smog-choked Chinese capital Beijing will be the first city in the country to introduce a new pollution tax. Following months of pollution far above safe levels, major Chinese cities have scrabbled to find a solution for improving air quality. Gasgoo reports Beijing will introduce a new tax this...
Antony Ingram -
Despite major reductions in air-pollution levels, the Los Angeles basin still has the worst smog problem in the nation. While you might debate over what exactly is the longer-term solution for reducing that smog, vehicles with internal-combustion engines are still contributing to problem. And it's one geographic case where plugging in makes a lot of sense. Now, Los Angeles is getting a mayor who has a history of championing electric cars. Mayor-elect Eric Garcetti, who is just 42, was still in his 20s when he was one of the first to drive a General Motors EV1, as well as one of the last to...
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China Imposes Much Tougher Fuel-Efficiency Standards On New Cars
China's ongoing and recent air pollution issues are leading to swift rethinking of the country's transport policy. After several months of choking smog engulfing its major cities, the country has finally imposed strict fuel economy standards in a bid to cut fuel use--and pollution. Reuters reports...
Antony Ingram -
Despite Pollution, China Still Isn't Committed To Electric Cars
The images have made for grim viewing even if you don't live within the frame: Pictures and details emerging from China earlier this year showed smog on levels not previously recorded. Streets were choked and people were strongly advised to stay indoors, and avoid any sort of activity that might...
Antony Ingram -
Beijing Says 'Enough!': City To Scrap 180K Polluting Cars
Recent pollution figures in Chinese capital Beijing have made 1970s Los Angeles look like a crisp day in the Rocky Mountains. The city, like Hong Kong last month, has finally decided to take action, and the city's acting mayor is set to scrap 180,000 old vehicles from the roads. Additionally...
Antony Ingram -
Hong Kong, Choked By Smog, Bans Most Polluting Vehicles
Choked by smog, the city of Hong Kong has finally cried "enough!" Despite setting clean air targets, the city's smog problems have been increasing every year, and authorities have finally brought in measures to ban the highest-polluting vehicles. According to Bloomberg (via Treehugger), that...
Antony Ingram -
Alcoa Building-Exterior Panels 'Eat' Smog From (A Few) Cars
Pittsburgh-based aluminum giant Alcoa has developed a new coating for its aluminum building panels that passively sucks in airborne pollutants and transforms them into harmless substances. Appropriately enough, the new panels are getting one of their first commercial tryouts at a new regional...
Talking Points Memo