Clean Car Campaign

Clean Car Campaign Update - February 2005

Automakers Sue California Over Global Warming Bill

California's landmark clean car legislation is under attack from the auto industry. The regulation requiring automakers to sell vehicles with reduced greenhouse gas emissions is set to go into effect beginning with 2009 vehicles. California estimates that the law will result in a 22 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2012. Unfortunately, rather than comply with the new regulation, nine automakers, including Ford, General Motors, Toyota, DaimlerChrysler, are suing the state of California to block the law's enactment. Nissan and Honda also recently joined the suit.

Read more and take action encouraging automakers to "Innovate, Not Litigate."

Maine Removes Toxic Mercury From Cars

Since 2003, Maine has required automakers to pay auto dismantlers and scrap dealers $1 for each mercury switch that is turned into a collection center for recycling. Last fall, the National Resources Council of Maine conducted a survey of auto dismantlers in order to assess participation in the program. The survey results show a greatly raised awareness of the importance of removing mercury from scrap vehicles, with over 80% of survey respondents reporting they had collected more than 16,000 switches across the state. This means that most switches in Maine are being recovered, and that this comprehensive, statewide program using financial incentives is dramatically more successful than programs without incentives.

Read the full results of the survey.

Advanced Vehicle Components Increase Fuel Economy

While hybrid vehicles get much of the attention on fuel economy, even bigger fuel savings come from a different source - more efficient designs for the most popular vehicles on the road. There are several fuel-efficient component technologies that are increasingly making their way into the mainstream automotive market. One example is continuously variable transmissions (CVTs), found in the Ford Freestyle. Vehicles equipped with CVTs generally achieve a 4-8% fuel economy improvement over similar vehicles with conventional four-speed automatic transmissions. Another examples is cylinder deactivation technology, as found in the Honda Odyssey minivan's engine. Engines with this technology can increase fuel economy by 5-10% over their conventional counterparts.

Find out more about these options and vehicles that use them.

GM Ranked Worst Polluter Among Automakers

In a new report released by The Union of Concerned Scientists, General Motors is named the worst polluter among automakers, followed by DaimlerChrysler and Ford. Honda comes out on top as the least polluting. The report uses government data and looks at the average emissions of the car and truck fleets from the six largest automakers in the U.S. market.

For more, or to read the full report entitled "Automaker Rankings 2004: The Environmental Performance of Car Companies," visit the Union of Concerned Scientists website.