Los defensores del aire limpio en Colorado están celebrando las nuevas normas de coches limpios de la EPA, que creen que pueden desempeñar un papel importante en la reducción de la contaminación del aire que afecta a los parques nacionales y a las comunidades de Front Range en Colorado.
La norma pretende reducir más de 7 billones de toneladas de gases de efecto invernadero exigiendo a los fabricantes de automóviles que reduzcan o eliminen la contaminación del tubo de escape.
Travis Madsen, del Proyecto de Eficiencia Energética del Suroeste, afirma que los objetivos de la EPA son alcanzables porque ya se puede conducir hasta donde uno quiera utilizando tecnología de emisiones cero.
"Los vehículos eléctricos pueden llevarnos por caminos pintorescos," asegura Madsen. "Tenemos estaciones de carga entre Denver, donde vivo, y Rocky Mountain National Park. Las herramientas ya están aquí, están disponibles, funcionan y pueden reducir la contaminación."
En 2022, la EPA rebajó la categoría de Front Range a "severo" por violaciones de la calidad del aire, debido en gran parte a la contaminación por ozono troposférico producido por las operaciones de petróleo y gas y las emisiones de los tubos de escape. La nueva norma, que se aplica a los turismos y a los vehículos medianos vendidos entre 2027 y 2032, ha sido acogida favorablemente por los fabricantes de automóviles y los sindicatos.
La EPA prevé que la norma genere $100 billones de dólares anuales en beneficios, incluidos $13 billones en ahorros en la atención médica debido a la mejora de la calidad del aire.
El alcalde de Estes Park, Gary Hall, dice que el aire ha sido tan malo últimamente que es difícil ver las montañas de Rocky Mountain National Park. Según Hall, la mala calidad del aire -provocada por los incendios forestales relacionados con el cambio climático o por el ozono troposférico - afecta a la experiencia que tienen los turistas en el parque nacional, por lo que muchos no regresan con tanta frecuencia.
"Por lo tanto impacta a la economía. Los dueños de los hoteles sufren, los restaurantes sufren, los comerciantes que venden camisetas y caramelos en Estes Park también sufren," dice Hall.
La norma da flexibilidad a los fabricantes de automóviles para reducir las emisiones. La gasolina avanzada, los híbridos enchufables y los eléctricos están todos sobre la mesa. Pero muchos esperan que se impulse a los fabricantes estadounidenses a alcanzar a Europa y China en la producción de vehículos eléctricos. Madsen afirma que, una vez fuera, los vehículos eléctricos suponen un gran ahorro.
"Los vehículos eléctricos son más sencillos, más fáciles de mantener. Y el combustible, si lo recargas en casa con una tarifa eléctrica residencial, equivale a menos de un dólar por galón de gasolina," concluye Hall.
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Clean-air advocates in Colorado are celebrating new EPA standards, which they believe can play a major role in reducing air pollution impacting national parks and Colorado's Front Range communities.
The rule aims to cut more than seven billion tons of greenhouse gases by requiring carmakers to reduce or eliminate tailpipe pollution.
Travis Madsen, transportation program director for the Southwest Energy Efficiency Project, said the EPA's goals are achievable, because you can drive where you want to go right now using zero-emission technology.
"Electric vehicles can take us along scenic byways. We've got charging stations between Denver, where I live, and Rocky Mountain National Park. The tools are here now, they're available, they work, they can cut pollution," he said.
The EPA downgraded the Front Range to "severe" for air quality violations in 2022, largely due to ground-level ozone pollution produced by oil and gas operations and tailpipe emissions. The new rule, which applies to passenger cars up to medium-duty vehicles sold between 2027 and 2032, has been embraced by automakers and unions.
The EPA projects that the rule will create $100 billion in benefits each year, including $13 billion in health-care savings due to improved air quality.
Gary Hall, Estes Park mayor, said the air has been so bad lately that it's hard to see the mountains in Rocky Mountain National Park. He says poor air quality - from wildfires linked to climate change, or ground-level ozone - impacts the national park experience for tourists, and many don't return as often.
"And therefore it impacts the economy. My hotel owners suffer, my restaurants suffer, my merchants selling Estes Park t-shirts and taffy suffer," Hall claimed.
The rule gives automakers flexibility on how to cut emissions. Advanced gasoline, plug-in hybrid, and electric are all on the table. But many expect it to spur U.S. manufacturers to catch up with Europe and China in electric vehicle production. Madsen said once you drive off the lot, EVs offer big savings.
"Electric vehicles are simpler, they're easier to maintain. And fuel, if you're charging at home on a residential electricity rate, is equivalent to less than a dollar a gallon of gasoline," he explained.
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Biofuels are painted as a greener energy alternative to fossil fuels but a new study found the industry produces plenty of its own air pollutants.
American biofuel plants reported emitting nearly 13 million pounds of hazardous air pollution in 2022, according to a report from the Environmental Integrity Project, trailing only slightly behind the 14.5 million pounds oil refineries released.
Tom Pelton, director of communications for the nonprofit, said South Dakota's 16 biofuel plants, which mostly make ethanol from corn, produce about 1.7 million pounds of greenhouse gases each year and 350,000 pounds of air pollution, including known carcinogens. Biofuel production is concentrated in the Midwest and Pelton pointed out people living nearby could suffer health effects.
"It's hard to detect and hard to track, but a person living downwind from one of these plants might have a few percentage points more chance of getting cancer over their lifetime," Pelton explained.
The report recommended the Environmental Protection Agency increase monitoring and control of air pollutants, improve the accuracy of emissions reporting and end current exemptions for ethanol manufacturers under the Clean Air Act. It also suggested ending government subsidies for biofuels, which benefit area farmers and communities.
According to the South Dakota Corn Utilization Council, ethanol production supported nearly 30,000 jobs in the state in 2022 and more than $4 billion in corn production.
Pelton argued expanded agricultural production for the industry can have other negative effects.
"When you subsidize growing corn to make ethanol, more kind of questionable lands are converted from grasslands and forests into row crops of corn," Pelton noted. "That takes away habitat for birds and for insects and for wildlife."
The conversions may also lead to the use of more chemical fertilizers, he added, which can lead to algae blooms and other problems in waterways. Among the 32 U.S. biofuel projects proposed or underway, according to the report, is a new biodiesel facility in Lake Preston, South Dakota.
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A new report finds New York City environmental-justice communities face worsening air quality.
It's part of the Community Heat and Air Mapping Project for Environmental Justice. Hunts Point in the Bronx has the highest particulate matter exposure, exceeding national health standards.
Victoria Sanders, climate and health program manager, New York City Environmental Justice Alliance, said congestion pricing could have helped, but Gov. Kathy Hochul indefinitely paused the program. Sanders said the program would have helped with pollution mitigation.
"I believe there was a center that was planned in the Bronx for asthma and now, when that's in jeopardy, that funding is not there anymore, and so the benefits that were supposed to come from that new source of funding are likely to be lost if we can't make sure that happens," she said.
The MTA was prepared to spend $130 million on mitigation for that borough. But an environmental assessment shows congestion pricing would have increased pollution in the outer boroughs and New Jersey. The Bronx would have seen increased soot from the more than 700 trucks entering the borough daily.
The report recommends renewable energy investments and targeted policies to improve air quality caused by pollution hot spots. It also suggests asking city and state lawmakers to introduce legislation reducing hazardous air quality.
While air pollution declined in parts of the city over time, Sanders noted environmental justice communities haven't gotten a break. However, she said there are historic challenges to addressing environmental justice communities.
"Over the years, the built infrastructure has been put in into those communities where there is a lot of highly polluting businesses. There's waste-transfer stations, there's power plants, there's dense e-commerce truck routes and things like that," she explained.
Sanders added that well-funded owners of these businesses push back on policies and politicians making changes. The report also said lacking vegetation increases heat in neighborhoods, which affects nearby residential areas. City and state officials can use targeted investments for heat-mitigation efforts.
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