EPA New Guidelines May Drastically Reduce Air Pollution in the Environment

Peter Lehner is the Executive Director of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and is excited about the Environmental Protection Agency's new guidelines that will promote cleaner air across the United States.

This week, the EPA announced their latest set of tailpipe and clean-gasoline standards that are meant to decrease the presence of smog and soot in the atmosphere. The announcement most likely stems from the Obama Administration's commitment to drastically regulating greenhouse gas emissions by 2020.

These new standards are projected to reduce the amount of sulfur in gasoline by two-thirds, which is expected to save thousands of lives affected each year due to poor air quality and save $19 billion in annual health costs. The problem with sulfur is that it causes a buildup in a car's exhaust and makes it difficult to filter out gas emissions. Sulfur is a big contributor to air pollution, and its release from tailpipes is associated with lung disease, asthma, emphysema, chronic bronchitis, heart disease, and premature births, according to this New York Times article.

The reduction of sulfur is expected to spur a myriad of benefits. Not only will it reduce smog and soot (approximately by 260,000 tons by 2018), but it is also projected to save between $6.7 billion and $19 billion annually in various economic benefits by 2030 and prevent between 700 and 2,000 premature deaths as well as 30,000 cases of respiratory issues in children.

There is one disadvantage associated with these potential changes, which are increased gas costs. The American Petroleum Institute has estimated a per gallon increase between six and nine cents. Although many would view it as a disadvantage, it could actually promote a step in the right direction toward purchasing hybrid or electric-powered vehicles. Hybrids have already proven to be environmental friendly and current test runs with electric-powered vehicles have shown promising results.

Mr. Lehner says that automakers are eager to move forward with clear-car technologies, which these guidelines intend to promote. To read more about the new EPA guidelines and Mr. Lehner's opinion, visit this Live Science article.