http://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/all-alpha5-05.htm Check out the above link, you may be very surprised that the pollution generated by cars is not what you think -- just because a car is small and gets good mileage does not mean it is clean. Further, don't attack all SUV's just because the use a lot of gas -- many are very low emission vehicles. Here is an example: Vehicle MPG Pollution score Green house score Ford Explore AWD V8 15/20 ----- 6 ----- 2 Toyota Prius 51/60 ----- 9.5 ----- 10 Hyundai Accent 28/36 ----- 2 ----- 8 The chart below explains the numbers, but higher scores are better, and these numbers represent pollution generate per mile driven. Notice how GREEN an AWD Ford Explorer is compared to the Hyundai econo box! Air Pollution ========= The Air Pollution Score reflects pollutants that cause health problems and smog. The score is from 0 to 10, where 10 is best. The air pollutants coming out of a vehicle's tailpipe are tightly controlled by EPA's emissions regulations. Thanks to efforts from both EPA (on the regulation side) and the automotive industry (on the compliance side), today's vehicles are significantly cleaner than in the past. Technology advances such as catalytic converters, exhaust gas recirculation and electronic fuel controls have made tighter pollution control from vehicles possible. However, emission levels will still vary between vehicles due to differences in emissions standards. Emissions performance should be an important environmental consideration when buying a vehicle. This chart shows the expected amounts of emissions per mile at each score. Air Pollution Score Emission Limits at Full Useful Life (100,000-120,000 miles) Maximum Allowed Grams per Mile NOx NMOG CO PM HCHO 10 0.00 0.00 0.0 0.0 0.0 9 0.02 0.010 2.1 0.01 0.004 8 0.03 0.055 2.1 0.01 0.011 7 0.04 0.070 2.1 0.01 0.011 6 0.07 0.090 4.2 0.01 0.018 5 0.10 0.090 4.2 0.01 0.018 4 0.15 0.090 4.2 0.02 0.018 3 0.2 0.156 4.2 0.02 0.018 2 0.3 0.180 4.2 0.06 0.018 1 0.6 0.280 6.4 0.08 0.027 0 0.9 0.280 7.3 0.12 0.032 NOx=Oxides of Nitrogen: Compounds containing nitrogen and oxygen; they combine with hydrocarbons in the sunlight to form smog NMOG=Non-Methane Organic Compounds: Compounds containing carbon; they combine with NOx in the sunlight to form smog CO=Carbon Monoxide: A colorless, odorless, poisonous gas PM=Particulate Matter: Tiny particles of solid matter that lodge in the lungs and deposit on buildings HCHO=Formaldehyde: A lung irritant and carcinogen
