emissions

  • Western Star semi tractor used to promote Fitzgerald Glider Kits

    The EPA has loosened or eliminated a lot of regulations since President Trump took office, but last week the agency announced it would tighten regulations on emissions of nitrogen oxides from heavy trucks such as semis. The EPA notes that smog-forming NOx emissions from heavy trucks fell 40 percent between 2007 and 2017 after the agency last tightened standards in 2001. (It predictably takes several years after new regulations are passed for air quality to improve as new trucks trickle out onto the roads and old trucks are retired.) DON'T MISS: Trump administration releases proposal to weaken...

  • Forest
    Study draws link between climate and weather—via jet stream

    For some, the evidence of global warming is hard to accept, especially when it has been difficult to draw the link between individual storms and an increase in atmospheric greenhouse gasses. Now a new study by a climate scientist at Pennsylvania State University has done just that. By studying the...

  • Smokestacks pollution air quality
    EPA dissolves boards of pollution scientists

    The EPA has dismissed two panels of outside scientists that advised the agency on particulate matter and ground-level ozone, which have been linked to smog and respiratory problems. Under acting administrator Andrew Wheeler, a former coal-industry lobbyist, analyzing those pollutants will be left...

  • UCS 2016 EV emissions mpg map
    UCS report shows electric cars get even cleaner in 2018

    Electric cars keep getting cleaner, despite efforts by the EPA and NHTSA to roll back pollution standards on cars and powerplants. That's the conclusion of the latest report from the Union of Concerned Scientists which annually measures the environmental impact of driving an electric car. The study...

  • Smokestacks pollution air quality
    Trump fuel-economy proposal writes off rising global temperatures

    It's not that the Trump administration doesn't believe in climate change. It just doesn't want to do anything about it. In a 500-page draft environmental impact statement concerning the EPA's and NHTSA's joint proposal to roll back fuel-economy and emissions regulations, the NHTSA reports that it...

  • EPA Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler
    Commentary: How to make your voice heard on fuel economy freeze

    Drivers are not helpless in the face of government plans to roll back fuel economy standards. A joint August proposal from the EPA and NHTSA to freeze planned increases in fuel economy standards is out for public comments until Oct. 23. Public comments can make a difference. DON'T MISS: Trump...

  • Byton M-Byte electric SUV prototype

    California clean air regulators held a reportedly contentious meeting with Trump administration officials over the proposal to roll back fuel economy standards. A wide survey of Americans told researchers that they're dissatisfied with the fuel economy their cars get now, implying they might want cars to improve. A new report links California's economic growth to its efforts to limit greenhouse gas emissions. Meanwhile, owners of 2.0-liter 4-cylinder Volkswagen diesels have just two days to file for legal settlements against the automaker. All this and more on Green Car Reports. After the...

  • Exhaust emissions from tailpipe [photo: Simone Ramella, 2005, used under Creative Commons 2.0]
    California meets with federal regulators over fuel-economy rollback

    Trump administration officials met with California regulators Wednesday to discuss the EPA and NHTSA's proposal to freeze fuel economy and emissions standards from 2020 through 2026. The proposal would rescind scheduled increases planned under the Obama administration, which would have raised...

  • Volkswagen turbodiesels await their fate near Pikes Peak International Raceway in Colorado Springs
    Final deadline for VW TDI diesel settlement

    Two more days. That's all the time owners of 2.0-liter diesel VWs have to file claims to receive a large financial settlement and to have their cars repaired to meet emissions standards. TDI owners have had plenty of notice to file paperwork to receive a financial settlement to replace or fix their...

  • Jaguar E-Type Zero
    Electric Jaguar E-Type, EPA blowback, Tesla pileups, and giant hybrid drones: The Week in Reverse

    Who objected to the Trump administration's plans to freeze emissions and fuel-economy standards? What was recalled going back to the beginning of modern electric cars? This is our look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at Green Car Reports—for the week ending August 24, 2018...

  • Mazda6 undergoing real-world emissions testing in Europe [Credit: LSDSL - Wikipedia]
    Explainer: What is WLTP and why should you care?

    Starting next month, Europe will implement the first phase of new fuel economy and emissions standards that were intended to take effect worldwide. Automakers are required to release initial ratings based on lab tests using the Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP) on Sept. 1...

  • Exhaust emissions from tailpipe [photo: Simone Ramella, 2005, used under Creative Commons 2.0]
    OpEd: Who pays for principle in Trump's war on lower emissions and trade?

    Last week the Trump administration unveiled a broad drawdown of fuel-economy regulations that had been aimed at cutting emissions from passenger vehicles. In the 978-page proposal, administration officials argued those rules implemented by the Obama administration would create lighter, potentially...

  • Smog over Los Angeles, courtesy Flickr user steven-buss

    President Donald Trump and federal officials on Thursday formally proposed scaling back Obama-era regulations for fuel economy and cited safety concerns that lighter, more fuel-efficient cars would be more dangerous on American roadways. The 978-page proposal outlines federal guidelines to freeze emissions standards at 2020 levels and potentially sets up a showdown with states over long-running rules that let California and 13 other states adopt more stringent pollution standards. California and 16 other states have already launched a preemptive lawsuit in case the Trump administration rolled...

  • Traffic
    EPA could base emissions, mpg rollback on tired safety argument

    In the latest draft of new fuel economy and emissions standards obtained by the Associated Press, the Trump administration argues that reducing mileage standards will improve safety. It's an argument that dates back to the beginning of fuel economy standards in the 1970s, and one that ignores...

  • EPA Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler
    Report: Trump administration set to roll back emissions regulations as early as next week

    The rollback of federal emissions and fuel economy standards that President Donald Trump promised during his campaign could be released as early as next week, according to a new Bloomberg report. A person familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that the administration will roll out proposals from...

  • Exhaust emissions from tailpipe [photo: Simone Ramella, 2005, used under Creative Commons 2.0]
    Colorado moves to follow California's low-emissions air-quality rules

    Chalk up one more state in California's column. Colorado has added its name to the list of 12 states that follow California's tighter emissions standards. Governor John Hickenlooper directed Colorado's Air Quality Control Commission to begin the legal process of bringing the state into the...

  • Mercedes-Benz C220d
    Daimler ordered to recall nearly 774,000 diesels in Europe for emissions software

    Stop us if you've heard this before: A major automaker will recall hundreds of thousands of vehicles for software that turns off emissions controls under certain circumstances. This time, it's Mercedes-Benz's parent company Daimler under investigation. Germany's transportation minister met with...

  • Forest
    Scientists find affordable way to recapture CO2 and burn it

    Scientists at Harvard have developed a new method of scrubbing carbon from the atmosphere, and turning it into hydrocarbon fuels that could be burned in airplanes or even cars. The process has been demonstrated at a small scale and combines common technologies from the pulp and petroleum industries...

  • Smog over Los Angeles, courtesy Flickr user steven-buss

    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 Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the EPA has drafted a proposal to freeze those standards in 2021 and prevent California from setting its own standards, the Bloomberg report says. California has had the right to set its own standards since President Richard Nixon signed the Clean Air Act...

  • Brown 2011 Volkswagen TDI Sportwagen listed for sale after emissions repairs
    2011 Volkswagen Jetta TDI SportWagen driven: Fixed, but does it matter?

    The brown diesel wagon I’m driving spent last winter confined to a dusty parking lot south of Colorado Springs. Thousands of other TDIs, ranging from Beetles to luxurious Audi Q7 crossovers, remain captive in massive holding facilities across the U.S. Some are finally heading home, to used car...

  • Smog over Los Angeles, courtesy Flickr user steven-buss
    California and 16 states sue EPA over emissions rules

    California, along with 16 other states and the District of Columbia, have formally launched a long-anticipated lawsuit against EPA over its proposed rollback of emissions rules for 2022 through 2025.

  • 1970s Los Angeles smog depicted in the Honda short film "Never Ending Race."
    Should California be able to set its own emissions standards? Take our Twitter poll

    With a legal showdown approaching between the Trump Administration and California, we thought it was high time to ask our readers who you think should govern emissions standards.

  • Chrome exhaust pipe
    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?

  • Gas pump
    Carmakers want emission, CAFE tweaks, not huge rollbacks, but won't say so publicly

    As promised, the Trump administration has embarked on regulatory rollbacks across many fronts, some immediate and others taking longer. It remains unclear whether the EPA's plan to loosen carbon-dioxide emission limits for 2022 through 2025 vehicles will survive inevitable court challenges...

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