A compromise to set new US-wide fuel consumption standards for new cars and trucks in return for California backing off its push for more stringent rules on automakers, was announced on 20 May by President Barack Obama.
The proposal was said to result from months of negotiations between the White House, struggling vehicle makers and the state of California. America’s auto makers – with some support from the Bush administration – have spent years resisting efforts by California and 13 other states to set more stringent rules on car emissions.
Under the new standards, US passenger vehicles and light trucks must average 35.5 miles per gallon (6.62 litres/100km) by 2016. The proposal is aimed at cutting climate-warming carbon emissions, which would fall by 900 million metric tonnes, or more than 30 per cent over the life of the programme.
The US Congress does not have to approve the standards, which will be implemented through rules developed by the Department of Transportation and the Environmental Protection Agency, which could take more than a year to complete.
Obama sets limits on car CO2 emissions
Reduced pollution from petrol stations
New legislation will require service stations in the EU to be equipped with petrol vapour recovery, resulting in improved protection of the environment and public health.
EU states postpone air quality compliance
Nineteen member states have so far notified the Commission that they will need time extensions to comply with EU air quality standards.
Top of the dirty thirty list
Having spewn out 31 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) in 2008, the Polish Belchatow plant is listed as EU’s most polluting power station in terms of its greenhouse gas emissions. The German Niederaussem power plant was the second dirtiest and emitted nearly 25 million tonnes.
A push for cleaner industry
The new Industrial Emissions directive received its first reading in the European Parliament in March, and the Council position is expected at the end of June.
Transport emissions still on the increase
Greenhouse gas emissions from the European transport sector rose 26 per cent between 1990 and 2006, while all other sectors show a declining trend.
Particles cost billions
Health damage in Sweden from fine particle pollution costs SEK 26 billion (€ 2.4 billion) every year, according to a recent study prepared for the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency.
Small but dangerous - new facts on particles
Fine particles cause 546,000 premature deaths each year in Europe, of which 39,000 are due to emissions from international shipping.
Worse than worst case...
Carbon dioxide emissions from fossilfuel burning and industrial processes is accelerating not only in industrialized countires, but at a global scale. The emissions growth rate has been over 3 per cent for the present decade, compared to 1.1 per cent during the 1990s.
Greenhouse gas emissions from rich countries still increasing
Almost half of the signatory states to the Kyoto protocol have reached their emission targets. Still overall grenhouse gas emissions is increasing. The USA alone was responsible for over two thirds of the increase in 2007.
Shipping would profit by cutting CO2 emissions
Greenhouse gas emissions from the global shipping industry could be cut by at least one fifth without any cost or even at a profit.
Environmental ship index underway
On request from several leading ports in northwestern Europe, including Le Havre, Antwerp, Rotterdam, Bremen and Hamburg, the Dutch research institute CE Delft has developed an environmental ship index to be implemented voluntarily from 2010 to promote greener shipping.
Ships pollute half as much as world’s cars
Since most shipping traffic takes place close to the coastline, ship emissions are a significant health concern.
The double benefits of climate policy
Action to cut greenhouse gas emissions could save millions of lives because of the cleaner air that would result.
Cleaner ship fuels to save American lives
The United States and Canada want ships to burn cleaner fuel when approaching the continent to reduce smog-related deaths.
Editorial: Europe needs Emission Control Areas
Over the last twenty years, fuel and emission standards for land-based transport have been dramatically strengthened over most of the world. But international shipping has for a long time resisted similar legislation, both as regards emissions of air pollutants and greenhouse gases.
Recent publications
Environmental effects of the proposal for the directive on industrial emissions (IED)
A push for cleaner industrial production
Off track – Inflated claims of the car industry
Air pollution dependency on climate variability and source region
20 years with monitoring effects of long-range transboundary air pollution on surface waters in Europe and North America
Swedish air quality not improving
Air quality in Sweden has indeed improved in the past 20–30 years, but lately there has been no improvement and there are no indications that it will improve further in the next few years ..
Speed limits can reduce air pollution
Levels of air pollution can be significantly reduced in urban areas by introducing traffic speed limits, according to a new study. Air quality was studied along a section of the Amsterdam ring road ..
New tool to evaluate local air quality
A new computer-based tool has been developed in Sweden to help local authorities evaluate air pollution at street level. It allows the results to be compared easily ..
Court overturns US air quality standards
A federal appeals court has ruled that Bush-era clean air standards for fine particles (PM2.5) were insufficient, sending them back to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to be rewritten ..
Air pollution endangers lives of 6 in 10 Americans
Sixty per cent of Americans – 186.1 million people – live in areas where air pollution endangers lives, according to the 10th State of the Air report by the American Lung Association ..
The biggest global health threat of the 21st century
A major report on managing the health effects of climate change, launched jointly by The Lancet and University College London (UCL), says that climate change is the biggest global health ..
EU energy and climate package adopted
On 6 April the Council of the European Union formally adopted the six legislative texts that make up the energy and climate package that was tentatively agreed between the Council ..
Ship pollution costs billions
Air pollutant emissions from ships operating in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea are responsible for health damage in Europe valued at 182 billion Danish kronor (DKK) (24 billion Euro) per year ..
Obama sets limits on car CO2 emissions
A compromise to set new US-wide fuel consumption standards for new cars and trucks in return for California backing off its push for more stringent rules on automakers ..
California adopts lowcarbon fuel standard
On 23 April the California Air Resources Board (CARB) adopted a regulation that will implement a new and unique lowcarbon fuel standard ..
Fuel-efficient cars lead to lower oil prices
Fuel efficiency standards for new vehicles will lead to a lower global oil price according to a study by Enerdata energy consulting, commissioned by environmental group ..