emissions
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When the Environmental Protection Agency quietly issued its new four-year plan in mid-October, the phrase "climate change" did not appear anywhere in the 38-page document. It is now clear the Trump Administration intends to delay, halt, or erase government efforts to limit U.S. emissions of carbon dioxide, the global-warming gas that is the main cause of climate change. On Friday, a broad team of climate scientists released the fourth National Climate Assessment—and it clearly, bluntly underscored the scientific consensus: humans have caused that change. DON'T MISS: Climate change...
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Those fuel-efficient diesels? Actually worse on lifetime CO2, study says
Diesel-powered cars have enjoyed a comfortable market share in Europe for decades, but their decline in popularity continues following numerous diesel-emission cheating scandals and regulatory crackdowns. As if diesel cars hadn't already had enough negative press, a new study says "fuel-efficient"...
Sean Szymkowski -
When will U.S. ban sales of new cars with engines? Poll results
Presuming China sticks to its statement that it will ban sales of new vehicles with combustion engines in some future year, the auto industry is facing a very different future than it was a year ago. Similar bans from Norway, The Netherlands, France, and the U.K. all represented smaller markets...
John Voelcker -
European bans on vehicles with engines should exempt collector cars: study
Numerous European countries have rolled out target years in which they plan to ban the sale of new cars powered by internal-combustion engines. At the same time, many European cities have introduced car-free zones in highly congested or polluted areas—which has led to worries that...
Sean Szymkowski -
EPA to axe rule banning older, dirtier diesel engines in new trucks: report
The EPA recently announced it will roll back the Clean Power Plan, one of former President Obama's milestone efforts to fight climate change, and now the agency plans to axe another rule limiting emissions. Next on the chopping block is a regulation that limits emissions from large trucks and their...
Sean Szymkowski -
Sales of cars with engines proposed to end in The Netherlands by 2030
European countries continue to assess more aggressive policies that favor or mandate zero-emission vehicles to move away from fossil fuels for transportation. Last year, a recommendation passed by the Dutch senate proposed The Netherlands join Norway in banning the sale of new cars powered solely...
John Voelcker -
France followed two other European countries—Norway and the Netherlands—with a plan to ban the sale of new cars powered by gasoline and diesel by 2040. While the country will stick to the 2040 timeline, France's capital city of Paris announced a more aggressive timeline. Ten years ahead of the country as a whole, Paris will phase out cars powered by internal combustion engines by 2030. DON'T MISS: France plans to ban all gasoline, diesel vehicles by 2040 The aggressive timeline follows a host of additional measures Paris has taken to curb emissions and greenhouse gas production...
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Toyota to study Mirai-derived fuel-cell tech for heavy-duty trucks
Toyota announced on Thursday that it will begin testing in two California ports a hydrogen fuel-cell heavy-duty truck adapted from the Toyota Mirai's powertrain for drayage use. Initially, Toyota is looking at how it can use hydrogen fuel-cell-powered vehicles to significantly reduce vehicle...
Andrew Ganz -
EPA to roll back Obama-era greenhouse gas policies on coal power plants
EPA head Scott Pruitt told miners in Kentucky on Monday that he intends to begin dismantling former President Barack Obama's signature climate-change agenda effort to curb greenhouse gas emissions from coal power plants. Standing alongside Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Pruitt told...
Andrew Ganz -
Bill could ban gasoline-car sales in California by 2040
California, long a leader in emission reduction and electric-car incentives, may be ready to take the next big step: a full ban on the sale of new cars powered by gasoline or diesel. Such a ban would follow India, the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, Norway, and others around the world with...
Sean Szymkowski -
Comment period ends tomorrow on EPA proposal to loosen emission limits on cars
The period for public comments on the EPA's proposed reconsideration of finalized rules to cut emissions of the climate-change gas carbon dioxide from light-duty vehicles will end on Thursday, October 5. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced on August 10 it would reopen the Comment...
John Voelcker -
Coming this week: Trump EPA's plan to neuter Clean Power Plan
Donald Trump's White House appears to be readying another of its next big climate change overhauls, and like many of the administration's plans, it will weaken or eliminate regulations on industry. Specifically, President Trump touted the undoing of the Clean Power Plan at a rally in Huntsville...
Sean Szymkowski -
You may not have heard it happen, but the global automotive industry changed forever on Thursday. China released its plan to require substantial sales of plug-in electric cars by all makers who want to sell in the world's largest car market, and they start in little more than a year. The levels far exceed those required by California, whose zero-emission vehicle rules have just started to ramp up for 2018 after staying steady for six years. CHECK OUT: China wants all electric cars: will it work? Reasons and reactions "It is no exaggeration to call this a landmark event in the history of the...
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Shell bashes bans on gasoline cars, proposes carbon pricing instead
The prospect of bans on gasoline and diesel new-car sales have become a much greater threat not only to automakers but to oil companies as well, now that China has said it is studying such a move. The world's largest car market has not announced any timetables for such a ban, which will likely be...
John Voelcker -
China wants all electric cars: will it work? Reasons and reactions
It was quaint and adorable when Norway did it, saying it would end sales of cars with internal-combustion engines by 2025. The Netherlands followed suit, with little fanfare. More recently, France and the U.K. have enacted various forms of bans on non-electrified vehicles, on varying schedules. Now...
John Voelcker -
California plans for its post-fossil-fuel future in electricity, cars
For 50 years, the state of California has led the United States when it comes to renewable energy and electric cars. The state features many programs to incentivize electric-car ownership, and 29 percent of the state's 2016 energy production came from solar, wind, and other renewable power sources...
Sean Szymkowski -
States to force emission, fuel-economy rules showdown with Trump Administration?
Continuing political turmoil and news coverage of the Trump Administration haven't stopped the president's agency heads from drastically reshaping policies on energy, the environment, and emissions. Comments are now being taken on the reopened EPA limits on vehicular carbon emissions for 2022...
John Voelcker -
2020 Mazda electric car to share Toyota underpinnings, technology
Mazda is a tiny carmaker on a global scale, producing just 1.6 million vehicles a year. It competes with four companies (GM, Nissan-Renault, Toyota, and VW Group) that each sell around 10 million a year, as well as numerous other smaller makers still larger than Mazda. In a world where reducing the...
John Voelcker -
China made headlines around the world on Sunday when state media reported that the country is developing a timetable to end production and sales of new vehicles with gasoline engines. While Norway, The Netherlands, France, and the U.K. have adopted different timetables for various versions of such a ban, China is both the world's most populous nation and the world's largest vehicle market. But it's important to note that the world's second most populous nation, India, plans to do exactly the same thing. DON'T MISS: China developing timetable to end sales, production of gasoline cars India has...
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Complex engine tech gets better ratings, does little in real world: report
Lately, automakers haven't been touting the rising fuel economy of new vehicles, but it has to continue rising to meet reductions in the legal levels of carbon emitted. While major strides in fuel economy have been made over the past five years, the complex engine technologies and other...
Sean Szymkowski -
Texas fossil-fuel industry made state more vulnerable to hurricane
Hurricane Harvey will go down as one of the most destructive and costliest natural disasters in the United States. While the storm has dissipated, with this week's attention focused on Hurricane Irma, the effects and damage tolls will last for years—and one thing already seems clear: Texas'...
Sean Szymkowski -
Electric cars in UK cleaner than best diesels in summer, not yet in winter
Although electric cars do not emit exhaust, it's widely recognized that the electricity to charge their batteries often still comes from fossil fuels. This has led to the scrutiny of electric cars to determine whether their overall "wells-to-wheels" carbon footprints exceed those of regular...
Sean Szymkowski -
China developing timetable to end sales, production of gasoline cars
The auto industry has now grudgingly accepted that battery-electric cars will make up some portion of the world's new vehicles in years to come. But a milestone in that trend may have come today, in news from China. Policy makers in the world's most populous country, and largest car market, are...
John Voelcker -
Want to buy a used, updated Volkswagen TDI diesel car? Your VW dealer will get first dibs
Updated Volkswagen diesel vehicles with new engine software will soon be back on the market, but those looking to buy one will have to wait for their local dealership. Volkswagen will offer the hundreds of thousands of modified diesel vehicles to its franchised dealers first, offering them a "right...
Sean Szymkowski