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Cars' Contribution to Smog Declining - Now Less Than 24%

30 September 1999

Cars' Contribution to Smog Declining - Now Less Than 24%

    WASHINGTON, Sept. 29 -- Despite the growing number of
vehicles and miles traveled, cars and light trucks cause less than 24 percent
of the emissions that lead to ground-level ozone problems in 25 major cities,
according to a AAA study based on data submitted to the Environmental
Protection Agency.
    The light-truck category includes sport utility vehicles (SUVs) and
minivans.
    "Clearing the Air -- 1999," the third such analysis of EPA data done by
AAA, reveals that in cities such as Atlanta, Philadelphia and Washington,
D.C., 65 percent to 80 percent of the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and
nitrogen oxides (NOx) comes from stationary sources such as power plants and
refineries, and mobile sources other than cars and light trucks.
    This is true as well for Baltimore, Charlotte, St. Louis and Phoenix,
where auto and light truck emissions have declined by about 65 percent since
1970, despite a more than 100 percent increase in vehicle miles traveled.
    The reason?  The production of cleaner cars, stimulated by the tightening
of federal tailpipe emissions standards, cleaner gasoline and more effective
state inspections.
    "Overall air quality in our cities is improving," said Susan G
Pikrallidas, interim vice president of Public and Government Relations for
AAA, "and it's due in large part to the automobile. This study confirms that
smog produced by automobiles continues to decline and does not contribute
inordinately to ozone problems in our cities when compared to the contribution
of other sources."
    Because automobiles and light trucks continue to receive disproportionate
attention as contributors to urban ozone, AAA said, it is important that their
contributions be understood, as well as their progress toward reducing
emissions.
    "Through these studies, AAA sends a clear message to governments --
federal, state and local -- that they need to go beyond simply targeting
passenger vehicles if they hope to make any real progress in further cutting
the smog in our cities," said Pikrallidas.
    The 1999 study and its predecessors were conducted by Energy &
Environmental Analysis, Inc., of Arlington, Virginia.  Cities studied are:
Atlanta, Baltimore, Baton Rouge, Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, Denver,
Detroit, Jersey City, Kansas City, MO, Louisville, Milwaukee, New Orleans,
Newark, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Portland, OR, Providence,
Sacramento, San Francisco, St. Louis, Toledo, Trenton, and Washington, DC.
    AAA is a not-for-profit federation of 90 clubs with 1,100 offices
providing more than 42 million members in the United States and Canada with
travel, insurance, financial and automotive-related services.