DEBRIS.COMgood for a laugh, or possibly an aneurysm

The Union of Concerned Scientists’ latest campaign points out a stunningly offensive advertising claim from the auto industry: “Autos made today are virtually emission-free.”

As with most environmental-impact statements made by big industries (and, in fact, the Bush Administration), there’s a nugget of truth used to disguise the ugly reality. The truth is that in lab testing, the average car today runs cleaner than the average car of 30 years ago. But the ugly reality is that we’re still in much worse shape than ever before.

According to a 1996 study, EPA lab tests show a 96% reduction in vehicle emissions since the mid-1960s. However:

[C]ars in actual use emitted only 75 percent less CO and HC, while Americans drove twice as many miles per year — resulting in a roughly 50-percent net drop in actual auto emissions. Vehicle travel is growing so rapidly that the trend of decreasing total emissions could reverse without additional regulatory steps.

The Auto Alliance’s claim is a smart marketing ploy. Telling consumers their vehicles are “virtually emission-free” seems to remove the auto industry from any discussion about environmental toxins. But in fact the auto industry should be at the center of any discussion about environmental toxins. According to a consortium of environmental groups, “Burning gasoline in cars and trucks is responsible for 27 percent of global warming pollution in the U.S.”

How do you get from being “virtually emission-free” to being responsible for 27% of global warming pollution? That’s not a question the Auto Alliance is likely to answer. In my opinion, the Auto Alliance is guilty of greenscamming. They’d like new car buyers to feel good about emission levels, when in fact auto emissions are still a major source of toxic pollution. The Auto Alliance’s ad ignores these factors:

• There are more cars on the road than ever before.
  
• People keep cars longer than ever before.
  
• People drive more miles per year than ever before.
  

So, in summary, new cars run cleaner than old cars, but there are more old cars on the road, and more total cars on the road, and everybody drives further than they used to.

Add to that the fact that overall fleet fuel economy is in decline. It’s counter-intuitive — reduced emissions implies better fuel economy, you might think — but the fuel efficiency of our national vehicle fleet peaked in 1988 and is now lower than it was 10 years ago.

Add to that the fact that although there are more models of SULEV and PZEV vehicles available, 24% of all vehicles sold in the US are SUVs. Although there are SULEV SUVs coming on the market, how many years will it be before they’ve penetrated the market sufficiently to have an impact on either overall fleet fuel efficiency or emissions?

The bottom line is that the Auto Alliance has picked out one partial truth and used it in a way that misleads consumers, to their own ill health.

The UCS provides a convenient mechanism for responding: Petition the FCC to investigate the Auto Alliance claim and issue appropriate sanctions.

The UCS provides a convenient summary of the problem, including scary statistics on C0₂ emissions from automobiles, on the main campaign page: Automakers Pollute the Press