Charting a course toward cleaner cars
The emissions from cars and light trucks account for 16 percent of the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the United States, and these vehicles use 47 percent of all the petroleum consumed in this country. Without strong action, those numbers are expected to keep rising, but reducing the nation’s impact on global climate change and dependence on oil imports has presented a daunting task. Now, a new MIT report outlines a set of policies that could accomplish that goal in the next few decades. The recommended policies would require manufacturers to make more fuel-efficient cars, and encourage consumers to buy them and then drive them in a fuel-efficient manner. Meanwhile, the report calls for the nation to develop a comprehensive strategy on fuels, setting long-term targets that account for the life-cycle emissions as well as production, distribution and vehicle requirements for each possible fuel.“If we’re serious about reducing petroleum...