Greener cars have improved L.A. air quality
Given the length of time the聽you鈥檇 be forgiven for thinking the only benefit from driving a high gas-mileage聽聽is the savings you make at the pump.
You鈥檇 be wrong.
Driving high gas mileage cars equates to lower tailpipe emissions, less air pollution, and a healthier population.
And now there鈥檚 data to prove it.听
According to the聽聽from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) -- () -- air pollution from car exhausts is down by 98 percent compared to the 1960s.
Although gasoline use in LA is almost triple that of what it was in the 1960s, the amount of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the air has dropped from around 100 parts per billion to just 2 parts per billion.听
Between 2002 and 2010 alone, the amount of VOCs in the air of LA halved.听
Of course, VOCs aren鈥檛 the only pollution to come from an exhaust.
As the study points out, however, VOCs are a major cause of ground-level ozone, which not only causes smog, but can cause respiratory diseases.听
Since its enactment in 1963, the Environmental Protection Agency鈥檚 Clean Air Act, and its various amendments, has tackled air聽, legislating on emissions from everything from factories to airplanes and the automotive industry.
From 1975, for example, it mandated every聽sold in the U.S. have a catalytic converter, designed to improve car emissions.听
As data from the NOAA attests, the period between the mid 1970s and early 1980s saw a steady, marked drop in VOCs measured in the air of Los Angeles.听
Of course, California doesn鈥檛 just have the EPA to thank for an improvement in air quality.听
The Californian Air Resources Board, set up in the late 1960s, has played a large part in improving Los Angeles鈥� air quality, through the implementation of even tougher air quality standards.听
Among them, stricter emissions targets for automakers, and mandates that mean automaker who want to sell cars in the state have to produce a specific percentage of low and zero-emission cars.听
The results are clear to see.听
鈥淩equirements for catalytic converters, use of reformed fuels less prone to evaporate, and improved engine efficiency of new vehicles have all likely contributed to overall declines in vehicle-related pollution, including VOCs,鈥� the NOAA says in its study.听
There鈥檚 more good news too.听
Even though the number of cars in Los Angeles continues to climb, perpetuating the city鈥檚 image as one of the most congested places in the U.S., gasoline use in LA has started to fall, after hitting a peak around 2008.
That鈥檚 a clear indicator that people are driving less, and buying the cleanest, most聽聽cars ever.听
So next time you look at a new car remember this: the higher your car鈥檚 gas mileage, and the lower its tailpipe emissions, the more easily you -- and your family -- will be able to breathe.听
