Most recent 40 articles: Union of Concerned Scientists - Vehicles
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Women in a Transportation System Designed for Men - Union of Concerned Scientists - Vehicles  (Apr 2) |
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Apr 2 · At some point as a bright-eyed kid who loved STEM, I was told to “draw an engineer”. You can probably guess what happened. My little stick figure came with a hard hat, a wrench, and no indication of them being a woman. This matches over 50 years of research showing children drawing only 27% of scientists as female, with similar trends for drawing engineers. And when children don’t imagine women as engineers and scientists, that directly shapes the future. This already shows up with severe underrepresentation of women in civil engineering (16%) and the transportation industry as a whole (14.5%). And this is just the tip of the iceberg of the many ways sexism pervades ... Read more ... |
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EPA Grant Program Helps to Accelerate Transition to Cleaner Ports - Union of Concerned Scientists - Vehicles  (Apr 1) |
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Apr 1 · Air pollution from ports comes from many sources: ships, trains, tugboats, cargo equipment, and – quite importantly – the trucks that move cargo containers to and from ports. The vehicles, vessels, and equipment that move our freight create hot spots of some of the worst air quality in the country and contribute significantly to climate change. However, zero-emission options for these workhorses of the economy are growing rapidly and some ports are beginning to move towards cleaner operations. To accelerate the much-needed transition to cleaner ports nationwide, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the Clean Ports Program (CPP), which provides $3 billion for ... Read more ... |
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EPA’s Final 2027-2032 Truck Rule Risks Leaving Communities Behind - Union of Concerned Scientists - Vehicles  (Mar 29) |
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Mar 29 · The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) just finalized its Phase 3 greenhouse gas regulation as a part of the administration’s plan to decarbonize the transportation sector. The Phase 3 regulation will cut new greenhouse gas emissions from trucks in 2032 by 32 to 62 percent for vocational trucks (e.g., refuse, delivery vans, school and transit buses) and 9 to 40 percent for tractor-trailers, compared to the current 2024 standards. We could also see up to 623,000 electric trucks on the road in this time period, with zero-emission trucks making up over one third of all new truck sales by 2032, according to our analysis…but that number is highly dependent on manufacturer compliance ... Read more ... |
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Everything You Need to Know about EPA’s New Clean Car Emissions Standards - Union of Concerned Scientists - Vehicles  (Mar 26) |
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Mar 26 · Last week, the Biden Administration finalized the newest, and strongest, set of vehicle emissions standards for new passenger cars and trucks. These new rules apply to all auto manufacturers and only affect new vehicle sales. They will go into effect in model year 2027 and steadily increase in stringency through model year 2032. Here’s what you need to know: Transportation is the largest source of climate emissions in the US (29 percent) and passenger cars and trucks account for the majority of this pollution. These new rules represent the largest climate regulatory action ever adopted by EPA and are expected to reduce more than seven billion tons of climate emissions. That’s ... Read more ... |
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A Trip Down Memory “Train”: A Brief History of Public Transit - Union of Concerned Scientists - Vehicles  (Mar 20) |
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Mar 20 · Being able to get from place to place is the foundation for a thriving community and sets the stage for growing our economy and upward mobility. For more than a century, the United States has recognized this, and maintaining roads and bridges has been a core function of federal, state, and local governments. While public transit is also a key option in getting around, it has suffered from chronic disinvestment despite its many community-wide benefits, and the current system leaves many of us disconnected, especially those who have long been divided by highways and borne the brunt of the cumulative impacts of environmental pollution. The federal government embraced a role in ... Read more ... |
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Where Is Truck Charging Needed First? We Have the White House’s Answer - Union of Concerned Scientists - Vehicles  (Mar 20) |
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Mar 20 · The transition to replace the most heavily polluting diesel vehicles on the road with zero-emission models is critical both to avoid the worst effects of climate change and to clean up foul air in freight-adjacent neighborhoods. Indeed, the communities most impacted by local air pollution from freight have been leading the call for the zero-emission freight for decades - you should hear from our partners at the Moving Forward Network (MFN) directly on this (see here and here for starters). Together, we advocate for policies to achieve 100 percent zero emission truck sales by 2035. I wrote previously about the general categories of where zero-emission electric trucks charge - ... Read more ... |
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Ask a Scientist: UCS Transportation Program Adds Equitable Mobility to its Portfolio - Union of Concerned Scientists - Vehicles  (Mar 12) |
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Mar 12 · Cars and trucks are a lot cleaner than when I was growing up. In 1963, a typical car - which ran on leaded gasoline without pollution control devices - emitted 520 pounds of hydrocarbons, 1,700 pounds of carbon monoxide, and 90 pounds of nitrogen oxide every 10,000 miles traveled. In 1966, vehicles were responsible for nearly 60 percent of the 146 million tons of pollutants discharged into the air across the United States. Thanks largely to the Clean Air Act, new passenger vehicles are 98 to 99 percent cleaner than they were 60 years ago when it comes to most tailpipe pollutants, including hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and fine particulate matter. Even so, ... Read more ... |
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More Transportation Choices Lead to Better Health, Better Communities, and a Healthier Planet - Union of Concerned Scientists - Vehicles  (Mar 11) |
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Mar 11 · One of my earliest childhood memories is sitting with my mother on a Chicago Transit Authority bus, headed to spend a summer day on Lake Michigan. In fact, images of transportation often come to mind when I think about growing up: Morning walks to elementary school; riding my bicycle around the New Jersey suburb I moved to before third grade; taking a high school sweetheart on the NJ Transit train to an outdoor concert in Manhattan; driving my friends to the beach for our after-prom weekend. In my professional life, I have been driven by the recognition that - whether a train, bus, bike, sidewalk, or car - transportation is a means to independence. Unfortunately, ... Read more ... |
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EVs Are at a Turning Point, It May Not Be What You Think - Union of Concerned Scientists - Vehicles  (Mar 7) |
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Mar 7 · There’s been a lot of nay-saying around EVs lately, including, amongst other things, worries that EV sales are stalling out now that all the early adopters have already made the switch and mainstream buyers aren’t ready to dive in. I wouldn’t blame you if you thought nobody was buying EVs or that sales were about to plummet. While there are some near term headwinds, I’ve never had as much confidence in the ability to zero out tailpipe emissions from our cars and trucks. Here’s why I’m optimistic: 2023 was a milestone year for electric car sales in the US. For the first time ever, annual sales surpassed one million vehicles, accounting for more than seven percent of new ... Read more ... |
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Investing in Public Transit Is Investing in Public Health - Union of Concerned Scientists - Vehicles  (Feb 28) |
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Feb 28 · Last week, I interviewed a patient who was hospitalized for severe and persistent asthma attacks. Ms. S had been perfectly healthy until her respiratory symptoms commenced one year ago. She described her struggle to breathe on her worst days as feeling as though “an elephant was sitting on her chest.” I asked about smoking history and exposure to any potential indoor irritants (i.e. dust, mold), all of which she denied. Perplexed, I then thought to ask her about environmental exposures. She noted that she moved to a new apartment around the time her symptoms began. Suspecting a connection, I inquired about the location of her apartment and traffic congestion in the area. Ms. S ... Read more ... |
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Something Stinks: California Must End Manure Biomethane Accounting Gimmicks in its Low Carbon Fuel Standard - Union of Concerned Scientists - Vehicles  (Feb 15) |
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Feb 15 · California’s transportation fuel policy is knee deep in cow poop, and it’s not a good look. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) is considering amendments to its Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) regulation, but indicated they have no plans to address the problems caused by counter-productive subsidies for manure biomethane. CARB’s use of the LCFS as a cash cow to fund manure digesters is bad transportation fuel policy and bad agricultural policy. Accounting gimmicks disguise a poorly run offset scheme as a magic carbon negative climate solution. CARB needs to phase out credits for “avoided methane pollution,” refocus the LCFS on transportation and get to work developing a more ... Read more ... |
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Plug-in Hybrids: Are They Really a Solution to Reducing Emissions? - Union of Concerned Scientists - Vehicles  (Feb 12) |
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Feb 12 · It’s immediately clear how fully-electric battery electric vehicles (BEVs) can help reduce emissions; eliminating gasoline and tailpipes in favor of increasingly clean electricity helps limit both climate change and air pollution. Plug-in hybrids are a bit more complicated. A plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (or PHEV) has both a gasoline engine and one or more battery-powered electric motors. The battery in a PHEV can be charged using grid electricity just like a fully electric vehicle but a PHEV can continue driving when the battery is low on charge by switching to the gasoline engine (either to generate electricity for the motors or to directly drive the wheels). Recently ... Read more ... |
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A Cap on Vegetable Oil-Based Fuels Will Stabilize and Strengthen California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard - Union of Concerned Scientists - Vehicles  (Jan 29) |
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Jan 29 · I have long been a supporter of California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS). The LCFS is the leading example of a Clean Fuel Standard, an approach to transportation fuel policy that holds oil refiners accountable to reduce the carbon intensity (CI) of transportation fuels. The CI is determined through a lifecycle analysis of the global warming pollution associated with the production and use of gasoline, diesel, biofuels, electricity, or other alternative fuels. Oil refiners comply with the LCFS by blending cleaner alternative fuels into the gasoline and diesel they sell, and also by buying credits generated by vehicles that don’t use any gasoline or diesel at all, such as electric ... Read more ... |
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Pieces of Federal EV Charging Vision Coming Together - Union of Concerned Scientists - Vehicles  (Jan 25) |
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Jan 25 · Two key pieces of Federal support for electric vehicle (EV) charging are coming into place to accelerate EV infrastructure installation for all kinds of vehicles. The first is the announcement of Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Grant Program awards - $623 million representing the first two years of the program’s budget - which provides funding for EV charging and other alternative fueling stations along highway corridors and in communities. The second is guidance from Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service on the Alternative Fueling Infrastructure Tax Credit, which makes installing EV charging cheaper for both individual drivers and businesses. I’ve been ... Read more ... |
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Rural Drivers vs. Disinformation: Three Facts about Electric Vehicles to Set the Record Straight - Union of Concerned Scientists - Vehicles  (Jan 17) |
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Jan 17 · EV demand is on a clear upward trajectory, in spite of fluctuations in the market. Availability has also increased, with many auto dealers offering a wide range of new and more affordable electric passenger car and pick-up truck models. This is all good news, but while urban areas have witnessed a growing adoption of EVs, adoption in rural areas is still lagging. According to one estimate, rural EV sales lags by about 40 percent compared to urban areas. Disinformation and misconceptions about electric vehicles are a major reason for this lag. False claims about EV demand, reliability, and performance are circulating widely, making it more challenging for rural drivers to ... Read more ... |
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Everything You Wanted to Know About Biodiesel and Renewable Diesel. Charts and Graphs Included - Union of Concerned Scientists - Vehicles  (Jan 10) |
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Jan 10 · Back in 2016 I wrote a long post about biodiesel, explaining what it is made from (mostly vegetable oil) and arguing that EPA should show restraint in setting targets for biodiesel because of the limited availability oils and fats and the harmful consequences of drawing too heavily from these limited sources. The world has changed in many ways since 2016, but the large-scale diversion of vegetable oil from food to fuel remains a bad idea. Now it is California policymakers’ turn to establish sensible guardrails on fuel policies to avoid creating problems in California, and around the world. Since 2016, EPA has generally shown restraint in setting targets for biodiesel and ... Read more ... |
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Diesel is the Reason for the Sneezin’: Cleaner Holiday Deliveries are on the Horizon - Union of Concerned Scientists - Vehicles  (Dec 21) |
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Dec 21 · With the holidays fast approaching, I sat down the other night to finish the list of gift ideas for the folks who’ve made my nice list. As I worked my way through family and friends, attempting to strategically formulate gift ideas within my budget, my mind drifted from the task at hand (as it often does) to ways I could reduce the environmental impacts of my holiday shopping and shipping decisions. The holidays are the peak shopping time for US consumers. According to the National Retail Federation, around 20 percent of shopping occurs during November and December. Holiday shopping has grown consistently over the past decade at around 3.5 percent annually on average – ... Read more ... |
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Hydrogen Combustion is a Dead-End Technology for Heavy-Duty Trucks - Union of Concerned Scientists - Vehicles  (Dec 21) |
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Dec 21 · Earlier this month, the California Air Resources Board held a workshop on the use of hydrogen combustion engines in trucks in California as part of an agreement with the Truck and Engine Manufacturers. It was clear from the workshop that industry is interested in extending the lifetime of their investments in combustion engine manufacturing regardless of the harm it would cause to the environment or the public. While industry tried to paint hydrogen combustion engines as a “bridge” technology to hydrogen fuel cells, their own presentations undermined that very point - instead, this path is a clear dead end. We need to make sure regulators like EPA and CARB restrict its usage before ... Read more ... |
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Biden Administration Faces Stark Choice on Its Biggest Climate Policy - Union of Concerned Scientists - Vehicles  (Nov 28) |
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Nov 28 · The UN’s Climate Change Conference is just about to kick off in Dubai, juxtaposing the powerful political power of the fossil fuel industry and the desperate need to reduce oil and gas usage as we face an ongoing climate crisis. With the petroleum-dominated transportation sector the leading source of heat-trapping emissions in the United States, it’s a great opportunity to look at the Biden administration’s progress on cleaning up passenger cars and trucks and what we should look for in the coming year. This year, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) proposed new emissions and fuel economy standards (respectively) ... Read more ... |
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What is the Department of Transportation’s Greenhouse Gas Performance Measure, and Why Does it Matter? - Union of Concerned Scientists - Vehicles  (Nov 27) |
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Nov 27 · Last week, the Federal Highway Administration finalized an important regulation–the greenhouse gas performance measure. UCS along with more than 100,000 members of the public have written in support of this national rule that will gather the scattered and incomplete data counting greenhouse gas emissions into a unified standard so local, state, and federal transportation authorities can make informed decisions. Currently, only 24 states and the District of Columbia have laws requiring them to set targets and track their greenhouse gas emissions from transportation. Given that transportation is the sector of the economy that contributes the most to the climate crisis in ... Read more ... |
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Electric Vehicle Sales Continue to Grow, Despite What Some Automakers Are Saying - Union of Concerned Scientists - Vehicles  (Nov 13) |
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Nov 13 · The future of cars is electric. That’s not just what I think, it’s not just what is required to slow climate change, it’s what many of the world’s automakers have publicly stated. However, over the last month several automakers have said the transition from gasoline to electric vehicles (EVs) will need to slow down, in part citing demand. It’s important to understand two facts driving this flurry of pessimistic press. First, while overall EV sales are up compared to last year, there are short-term sales dynamics negatively impacting some, but certainly not all, EV makers. Second, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is in the process of setting regulations for future ... Read more ... |
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Considering An EV and Live in a Rural Area? Here are Five Things to Know About Charging - Union of Concerned Scientists - Vehicles  (Nov 9) |
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Nov 9 · Interest in electric vehicles (EVs) is strong among U.S. drivers - including drivers who live in rural areas. That’s great news because swapping gasoline and diesel vehicles for EVs is an essential strategy to reduce local air pollution and climate change emissions from transportation. One factor helping rural interest is the increasing variety in available electric models, including models that can meet the mobility and utility demands of rural drivers. Even for people who love their trucks, there are now multiple pickup options to choose from. Rural drivers tend to put their vehicles through intense use on a regular basis, relative to drivers in more populous areas. ... Read more ... |
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Automakers Opt Out of Cleaning Up Their Vehicles…But at What Cost? - Union of Concerned Scientists - Vehicles  (Nov 9) |
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Nov 9 · The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recently proposed new fuel economy standards that, together with the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) greenhouse gas emissions standards, are meant to continue to reduce fuel use from new passenger vehicles. The fuel economy program, known as CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) because it considers the “average” fuel economy of a manufacturer’s new vehicle fleet, has resulted in over $5 trillion in fuel savings over its nearly 50-year history. However, it does have one shortcoming that has gotten some press recently: automakers can buy their way out of compliance with the regulations, choosing to simply pay ... Read more ... |
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How are EV batteries (actually) recycled? - Union of Concerned Scientists - Vehicles  (Oct 25) |
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Oct 25 · Electric Vehicle (EV) battery recycling is crucial to a sustainable, electrified transportation system. A substantial portion of key minerals for electrifying could come from recycled batteries by 2050, dramatically reducing the need for new mining. But how those batteries are recycled can make a big difference - we must use recycling processes with high mineral recovery rates and lower environmental impact. In this blog post, I’ll explain different ways to recycle batteries and why getting it right is essential. The three types of recycling, summarized here, are discussed later in greater depth, including the pre-processing that must occur before recycling. This ... Read more ... |
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Transition to EVs: a Win for Climate; Let’s Make it a Win for US Workers - Union of Concerned Scientists - Vehicles  (Oct 24) |
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Oct 24 · A global transition to electric transportation is underway and momentum is growing. Traditional and new auto manufacturers are bringing more and more models to market. Even in California, where a tradition of stringent regulation has pushed the industry to innovate over the past 50 years, automakers are selling EVs at levels well above sales requirements. This momentum is spreading across the country with US EV sales now over 9% and climbing. When a change as big as this is underway, it’s important to understand what impact it can have on employment and to take steps to ensure that workers benefit from the transition and aren’t left behind. But what is the outlook for ... Read more ... |
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Electric Vehicle Sales in US Hit the Accelerator Pedal - Union of Concerned Scientists - Vehicles  (Sep 22, 2023) |
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Sep 22, 2023 · With more electric vehicle choices than ever, EV sales in the US are hitting new heights. In just the first half of 2023, over 670,000 EVs were sold with over 80 percent of those fully-electric battery electric vehicles (BEVs). It took 8 years for the first million EV sales – but now more than a million have been sold in just the past 12 months. Several factors are likely responsible for EVs hitting a tipping point in sales. More EV models are now available, from small cars to pickup trucks, meaning more buyers have an electric option that meets their needs. More widespread adoption of EVs across the US is also a factor. We’re seeing EV sales increase outside of California, ... Read more ... |
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Ask a Scientist: It’s Getting Easier for US Car Owners to Go Electric - Union of Concerned Scientists - Vehicles  (Sep 15, 2023) |
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Sep 15, 2023 · Since the beginning of 2022, electric vehicle sales in the United States have been downright electrifying. Last year, US drivers bought more than 800,000 new electric vehicles (EVs), 65 percent more than in 2021, even as overall car sales declined. Those 807,956 EVs accounted for 5.8 percent of all new cars sold, an increase from 3.1 percent in 2021. Thanks largely to federal tax incentives, lower sticker prices, and more available models, EV sales have continued to surge in 2023. The 554,140 EVs sold during the first and second quarter of this year represent nearly a 50 percent jump from the first half of 2021, and sales are on pace to surpass a record-breaking 1 ... Read more ... |
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Where Do Electric Trucks Charge? - Union of Concerned Scientists - Vehicles  (Aug 29, 2023) |
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Aug 29, 2023 · We are about to enter the era of the electric truck. Sure, there are already a few thousand electric trucks and buses on US roads already. Now, with the California Air Resources Board’s passage of the Advanced Clean Fleets Rule in May and with the potential for a (hopefully) stronger-than-proposed greenhouse gas standard for heavy-duty trucks passed by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the coming months, we will begin to see a significant switch from highly-polluting diesel trucks to zero-emission trucks. Those zero emission trucks can’t come soon enough. Communities that have been suffering from disproportionate exposure to transportation pollution, including diesel ... Read more ... |
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California Must Extend Zero Emission Vehicle Funding from “AB 8 Fees” - Union of Concerned Scientists - Vehicles  (Aug 28, 2023) |
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Aug 28, 2023 · If you have been in a Sacramento coffee shop over the past few years, you have probably heard something about AB 8 reauthorization, AQIP, CPT, or EFMP. Unless you are a clean transportation wonk or are in a deeply sad place with your social life, you probably don’t know what the heck that alphabet soup means, so let me translate. For California to achieve its climate goals and federal air quality obligations, the state legislature must approve the extension of a modest portion of vehicle registration fees (called “AB 8 Fees”). These fees generate more than $100 million per year to fund zero emission vehicle (ZEV) incentives, electric vehicle chargers and hydrogen fueling ... Read more ... |
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In California, Car Buyers Are Choosing Electricity Over Gasoline in Record Numbers - Union of Concerned Scientists - Vehicles  (Aug 06, 2023) |
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Aug 06, 2023 · The latest new car sales numbers are in, and California has hit a new milestone on the path to electrification: 1 in 4 new cars sold in California in the second quarter of 2023 were plug-in electric cars and trucks. Another sign of the rapid changes occurring is that for the first time Tesla was the top selling brand in California, edging out Toyota for the top spot. The Tesla Model Y was also the top-selling model of car or truck in California, more than doubling the sales of the best-selling gasoline car (Toyota Camry) and truck/SUV (Toyota RAV4). While the overall statewide sales of electric vehicles is impressive, the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Area region is moving ... Read more ... |
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New Choices for Cleaner EVs (And Some Room for Improvement) - Union of Concerned Scientists - Vehicles  (Aug 02, 2023) |
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Aug 02, 2023 · How much cleaner is it to drive an electric vehicle (EV) versus a gasoline vehicle? This is a common question for drivers and car buyers, and one we’ve been answering for quite a while. It’s a complicated question, in part because electricity generation varies across the US and also because some EVs are more efficient than others. To help drivers look at the options, we’ve updated our tool that lets you look at the emissions from driving different models of EVs in different parts of the country. This tool compares the climate-changing emissions from electric vehicles to gasoline-powered cars by analyzing all the emissions from fueling and driving both types of ... Read more ... |
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Despite Potential to Electrify 90 Percent of Routes, USPS Still Plans to Deliver Pollution with the Mail - Union of Concerned Scientists - Vehicles  (Jul 24, 2023) |
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Jul 24, 2023 · With over 250,000 vehicles in service, the United States Postal Service (USPS) has one the world’s largest truck fleets. Over the past several years, the USPS worked to plan the replacement of its aging delivery truck fleet with a mix of both electric and combustion vehicles. If electric delivery vehicle deployment is maximized, this transition could have significant positive impacts on both air quality and the larger adoption of commercial electric vehicles. I’ve blogged in detail about this effort, focusing mainly on the severe analytical shortcomings in the Postal Service’s 2021 study of air quality, climate, economic, and technological aspects of the new fleet of vehicles, ... Read more ... |
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Decarbonizing Transportation Must Come with People-Powered Mobility Justice - Union of Concerned Scientists - Vehicles  (Jul 19, 2023) |
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Jul 19, 2023 · Over the last decade we have often been promised a better, cleaner, greener mobility future. New ride hailing services (e.g., Uber founded in 2009; Lyft in 2012), public micromobility systems such as scooters and bikeshares, electrification, shared automated vehicles: all came with the promise of “faster, smarter, greener” cities that would be “connected, heterogenous, intelligent and personalized.” New narratives, startups, and mobility experiments were based on great optimism about electric, digital, autonomous, hybrid, micro, or even aerial (drone) mobilities. Former chief engineer for the New York City Department of Transportation Sam Schwartz promised “the rise of cities and ... Read more ... |
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Three Reasons the Market is Primed for Stronger, National Electric Truck Standards - Union of Concerned Scientists - Vehicles  (Jul 19, 2023) |
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Jul 19, 2023 · Over the past year, we’ve seen significant momentum toward an era of zero-emission trucks and buses. Perhaps most notable were California’s adoption of the world’s first economy-wide zero emission truck and bus fleet standard and the first nationwide purchase incentives for zero-emission medium- and heavy-duty vehicles in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). While both actions will stimulate the market for zero-emission medium- and heavy-duty vehicles and lead to accelerated adoption, much more work needs to be done to get us on track to a more equitable zero-emission future. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is currently developing a regulation to reduce climate-warming ... Read more ... |
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Transforming Transportation: Opportunity for a Sustainable and Equitable Electric Future - Union of Concerned Scientists - Vehicles  (May 08, 2023) |
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May 08, 2023 · Electric transportation is essential for a cleaner and healthier world. Replacing gasoline vehicles with electric can reduce emissions that cause climate change and illnesses. Researchers like me are putting a microscope to the electric vehicles (EVs) because, as with any extraction and manufacturing, there are associated impacts. We are specifically looking at the social and environmental impacts of mining and processing the minerals that are used in the batteries powering these vehicles, buses, bikes, and scooters. While this may seem obvious, some news coverage on EV mineral impacts have not accurately portrayed this motivation. In many cases the problems associated with EV ... Read more ... |
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Clean Fleets Rule Slated to Deliver Healthier Air for Californians - Union of Concerned Scientists - Vehicles  (May 04, 2023) |
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May 04, 2023 · In the coming years, Californians will begin to see a massive switch away from highly polluting fossil-fueled trucks to zero-emission electric trucks. Why? Because last week, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) made history by unanimously adopting what is perhaps the most transformative clean trucks regulation ever considered - the Advanced Clean Fleets (ACF) rule. This rule creates the first-ever, economy-wide, zero-emission standard for large truck fleets. The rule will apply to commercial, federal, state, municipal, and drayage fleets. Additionally, the rule phases out the sale of fossil-fueled trucks in 2036. Trucks and buses on California’s roads and highways ... Read more ... |
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Californians Embrace Zero-Emission Vehicles with Record Sales - Union of Concerned Scientists - Vehicles  (May 03, 2023) |
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May 03, 2023 · Sales of new zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) in California hit new highs in the first quarter of 2023. According to the California Energy Commission, more than one in five of all new passenger cars and trucks sold in the state at the start of this year was a zero-emission vehicle, which includes plug-in hybrids, battery electric, or fuel cell electric vehicles. More than 16 percent of new cars sold this year are fully electric plug-ins. These sales statistics build on last year’s strong EV sales when the statewide average was 19 percent ZEV sales. To date, more than 1.5 million ZEVs have been sold in California. EVs are popular new cars in both Southern and ... Read more ... |
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California Ready to Take Giant Leap Toward Zero-Emission Trucks - Union of Concerned Scientists - Vehicles  (Apr 19, 2023) |
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Apr 19, 2023 · In late April, California air regulators are poised to pass one of the most meaningful regulations to reduce pollution from commercial trucks, vans, and buses. The Advanced Clean Fleets (ACF) rule, which I’ve blogged about in detail before, will phase out fossil-fueled trucks over the next several decades. This rule expands the benefits of the landmark Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) rule, which compelled manufacturers to sell an increasing number of zero-emission trucks, by requiring that nearly all new medium- and heavy-duty vehicles (MHDVs) sold in the state be free of tailpipe emissions by 2036. Together, these standards will accelerate California’s necessary transition ... Read more ... |
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EVs Critical Solution For Climate Crisis, But Biden Administration Stopping Short on Trucks - Union of Concerned Scientists - Vehicles  (Apr 13, 2023) |
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Apr 13, 2023 · Transportation is the largest source of global warming emissions in the United States, making it a critical piece of the puzzle to addressing climate change. Every new vehicle sold today could be on the road for two or even three decades, which means that achieving a goal for 2050 requires immediate action. This is what makes yesterday’s action by the Biden administration so critical - EPA proposed new emissions targets for both passenger vehicles and heavy-duty trucks manufactured and sold through 2032 that will accelerate the transition to electrification already underway. Electrifying transportation is a necessary component of addressing climate change. But it also ... Read more ... |
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Why Do We Need EV Battery Recycling Policy? - Union of Concerned Scientists - Vehicles  (Mar 29, 2023) |
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Mar 29, 2023 · Our petroleum-based transportation system has led to health and climate impacts felt throughout the world. Electrifying transportation is a valuable tool we can use to reduce those impacts. This transition will require an increase of minerals used in batteries that power our electric vehicles (EVs), trucks, and buses. When these electric transportation modes retire, the batteries’ usefulness continues. Even with diminished capacity, they can be reused, refurbished, or repurposed and then eventually recycled. The materials recovered from recycling can be used to manufacture new batteries, therefore reducing the amount of newly mined materials necessary to meet upcoming mineral ... Read more ... |
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