The Long Engineering Road To Political Emissions Standards
Wednesday, October 16, 2013 - 13:01
in Earth & Climate
Emissions standards are easy for politicians. They just consult some people whose opinion they happen to like and pick a number. Then it is up for science and engineering to make it possible, whatever the cost. In 2012, California approved standards to reduce emissions from passenger cars to 3 milligrams, or a millionth of an ounce, per mile over the 2017-2021 automobile model years. Part of the justification politicians used was a gross miscalculation by the California Air Resources Board, which overstated some emissions by 340% to make the problem look urgent. read more