This week, EPA finalized its rollback of vehicle tailpipe and mileage standards for model years 2021-2026. The initial standards were set during the Obama Administration and set higher standards than those finalized in EPA’s policy finalized this week.

Motor vehicle tailpipe emissions are a major source of air pollution and a major cause of climate change.  The Administration’s decision will result in the release of more air pollutants and carbon dioxide into the air by trucks and cars. Air pollutants like particulate matter and ozone are directly toxic to the lung, and carbon dioxide causes climate change, which results in forest fires, more ozone pollution and heat waves that cause respiratory illness and hospitalization.  

“As a pulmonary physician and an air pollution researcher, I know that air pollution from cars and trucks is bad for my patients.  The research is clear:  air population from cars and trucks makes people sick, especially kids and adults suffering from asthma and other lung conditions “says Mary B. Rice, MD, chair of the ATS Environmental Health Policy Committee.