美國環保署（Environmental Protection Agency, EPA）20日為美國小客車發布了有史以來最嚴苛的溫室氣體排放標準，適用於2023年至2026年間銷售的車輛。
新排放標準將替美國省下1900億美元
EPA表示，新標準預計能使車輛平均燃油效率增加到每加侖40英里，高於川普時代的2026年32英里／加侖，並將為美國人帶來1900億美元的淨效益，包括減少氣候污染、改善公共健康和為駕駛人節省油錢。
EPA強調，新標準「以科學證據和對當前和未來技術的嚴格評估為基礎」，並預測截至2050年共可省下超過30億噸的溫室氣體排放。
汽車創新聯盟（Alliance for Automotive Innovation）總裁兼執行長博澤亞（John Bozzella）表示，到2025年，汽車業將在電氣化方面投資3300億美元。該聯盟代表近99%美國境內全新小客車和輕型卡車的製造商。
「要實現這個規則的目標，需要政府政策的支持，」博澤亞預測，「包括消費者激勵措施、大量基礎設施成長、車隊需求以及對美國製造業和供應鏈發展的支持。」
有專家預測，到2025年，美國駕駛人將有130款電動汽車可供選擇，是目前50多種車型的兩倍多。
NPO肯定拜登政府小客車新排放措施
美國環保署交通和空氣品質辦公室前資深工程師和政策顧問，同時也是非營利組織環保網絡（Environmental Protection Network, EPN）成員的艾森（Jeff Alson）肯定新標準及其產生的過程：「拜登政府和環保署署長里根（Michael Regan），讓環保署工作人員再次利用其世界一流的科學和技術專長，來保護公共衛生和地球。」
「交通是氣候污染的主要來源。環保署針對2023年至2026年車型的新溫室氣體標準，是解決氣候危機和保護美國人健康和未來的重要第一步。」
EPA現在必須立即開始制定2027年及未來的多污染物排放標準，這將推動美國汽車銷售到2030年代初接近100%零排放，以實現國家氣候和空氣品質目標，並為想成為新興全球電動汽車市場領導者的製造商提供公平的競爭環境。
非營利組織世界資源研究所（World Resources Institute, WRI）主任拉索夫（Dan Lashof）說：「今天拜登政府執掌下的美國，以有史以來最嚴格國家汽車排放標準創造了歷史，回應了WRI和許多其他機構的訴求，新規則明顯強過去年8月的提案，反映隨著電池價格下跌，電動汽車市場的動能成長。」
「美國人民是真正的贏家，因為新規則將減少危害公共衛生和空氣污染，同時還能為消費者節省資金，創造美國高薪就業機會，並在全國加速汽車電氣化。」
「交通運輸是美國溫室氣體排放的第一大來源，要想實現美國2030年的排放目標並因應氣候危機，就需要朝著汽車100%零排放的未來快速前進。」拉索夫說。
The strongest vehicle greenhouse gas emissions standards ever established for the U.S. light-duty vehicle sector were set today by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for vehicles sold in model years 2023-2026.
The EPA said it expects today’s final standards to result in average fuel economy label values of 40 miles per gallon, while the Trump-era standards they replace, the SAFE rule standards issued in March 2020, would have achieved only 32 mpg in MY2026.
The final standards issued today leverage advances in clean car technology to unlock $190 billion in net benefits to Americans, including reducing climate pollution, improving public health, and saving drivers money at the pump, the EPA said in a statement today.
The new standards are “based on sound science and grounded in a rigorous assessment of current and future technologies,” EPA asserted, predicting, “The updated standards will result in avoiding more than three billion tons of GHG emissions through 2050.”
John Bozzella, president and CEO of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents the manufacturers of roughly 99 percent of new cars and light trucks sold in the United States, said the auto industry is investing $330 billion in electrification by 2025.
“Achieving the goals of this final rule will undoubtedly require enactment of supportive governmental policies,” predicted Bozzella, “including consumer incentives, substantial infrastructure growth, fleet requirements, and support for U.S. manufacturing and supply chain development.”
Some experts predict that in 2025, drivers will have 130 EV models available in the U.S. to choose from, more than double the 50+ models available today.
Jeff Alson, former senior engineer and policy advisor with the EPA Office of Transportation and Air Quality is a member of the Environmental Protection Network, EPN. More than 550 former EPA officials are members of the network, which states its commitment to “protecting the integrity of the agency, safeguarding the environment and public health, combating climate change and advancing environmental justice.”
Alson supports the new standards and the process that generated them. “I commend the Biden administration and EPA Administrator Michael Regan for allowing EPA staff to once again use its world-class scientific and technical expertise to protect public health and the planet.”
“Given that transportation is the leading source of climate pollution,” he said, “EPA’s new car greenhouse gas standards for model years 2023 through 2026 represent an important first step to address the climate crisis and protect the health and future of Americans.
EPA must now immediately turn its attention to the critical challenge of developing multi-pollutant emissions standards for 2027 and later that will drive US car sales to near-100-percent zero emissions by the early 2030s in order to meet national climate and air quality goals, and provide a level playing field for those automakers who want to be leaders in the emerging global electric vehicle market.
“The uncertainty around the Build Back Better legislation means that strong rulemaking for 2027 and beyond is both more challenging and more critical,” Alson said.
Dan Lashof, director of the nonprofit World Resources Institute, WRI, said, “Today the Biden administration made history by setting the strongest national vehicle emissions standards the United States has ever seen. Responding to formal comments from WRI and many others, the final rule is significantly stronger than the proposal made last August, reflecting the dynamic growth of the electric vehicle market as battery prices fall.”
“The American people are the real winners as the new rules will reduce air pollution that harms public health and contributes to climate change, while also saving consumers money at the pump, creating good-paying American jobs and accelerating vehicle electrification across the country,” said Lashof.
“Transportation is the number one source of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. and rapid progress toward a 100 percent zero emissions vehicle future is needed to achieve the nation’s 2030 emissions target and address the climate crisis,” Lashof said.
※ 全文及圖片詳見：ENS
