The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Quebec is preparing to impose the nationÕs most stringent regulations on auto emissions. Officials claim the new standards are necessary to combat climate change and spur development of Òeco-energeticÓ automobiles. But this turn of policy is far more likely to endanger the public than to protect us. The regulations would, if enacted, require automakers to reduce average fleet-wide emissions of carbon dioxide by 30 per cent between 2010 and 2016. Assuming that man-made emissions are warming the planet (which some dispute), the Quebec regulations would have no effect. Quebec emits a mere 0.3 per cent of annual greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. Transportation-related releases account for an even smaller fraction. The most significant fuel savings come when the overall weight of a new vehicle is decreased. But this also entails dire risks. A variety of studies have documented that smaller, lighter vehicles increase the risk of fatalities in crashes. According to the National Academy of Sciences, the ÒdownweightingÓ and downsizing of autos likely resulted in an additional 1,300 to 2,600 traffic fatalities in 1993 alone. Researchers at Harvard University and the Brookings Institution found that, on average, for every 100 pounds shaved off new cars to meet Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards, between 440 and 780 additional people were killed in auto accidents, or a total of 2,200 to 3,900 lives lost per model year. Using data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Insurance Institute for Traffic Safety, USA Today calculated that size and weight reductions of passenger vehicles undertaken to meet CAFE standards resulted in more than 46,000 deaths. There have been other unintended consequences to regulating fuel efficiency. Stricter standards allow drivers to travel farther at less cost, so the number of vehicle miles traveled actually increases when fuel efficiency is improved, resulting in no net reduction in emissions. Quebec officials apparently have also failed to consider the additional emissions that would be generated by the manufacture of vehicle components from lightweight materials such as aluminum, plastics, or composites needed for downsizing. According to a recent study by the National Academy of Sciences, Òwhile increasing [fuel efficiency] standards might reduce greenhouse gas emissions from automobile tailpipes, these reductions would be offset by increases in emissions from the new technologies needed to produce more efficient cars.Ó If past experience is any guide, more stringent tailpipe standards are more likely to spill blood on the highways than change the climate.
