Two widely cited University of Michigan transportation researchers urge consumers to drive more fuel efficient vehicles to reduce their own carbon emissions as President Trump works to relax vehicle fuel economy standards.
As President Trump turns back the clock on mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, individual actions to reduce one's own carbon footprint become ever more important. According to a paper (pdf) written by University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute researchers Michael Sivak and Brandon Schoettle in support of the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, the most effective action a person concerned about climate change can do is to drive a fuel-efficient vehicle.
Sivak and Schoettle, who monitor the fuel economy of new vehicles purchased (as opposed to manufactured) on a monthly basis, have found that after gas prices began falling in July 2014, the average miles per gallon flatlined after having risen from 21 miles per gallon for model year 2008 to 25 mpg for model year 2014. [See graph].
"The main reason was the drop in the price of gasoline to $2.14 in 2016 from $3.36 a gallon in 2014" write Sivak and Schoettle in a New York Times Sunday Review opinion. Average gas prices on March 29 were $2.29.
Now, fueling a less fuel-efficient but more spacious vehicle like an S.U.V. or pickup truck costs no more than fueling a small sedan did a few years ago. And buyers have responded by buying more of those bigger, less fuel-efficient vehicles.
And the auto sales figures reflect that preference larger vehicles. Last year, light trucks, a category of passenger vehicles that include popular sport utility and crossover vehicles, outsold more fuel-efficient cars, accounting for a record 61 percent of auto sales. In fact, those sales figures were indirectly referenced by Environmental Protection Agency Scott Pruitt as justification for reducing vehicle emissions standards.
"We ought to focus on fuel efficiency for cars that people really want to buy," Pruitt stated on a Sunday news show on March 26 (posted here).
On March 15, President Trump announced that he had ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Transportation to reopen the review of fuel efficiency standards for model year 2022-2025 passenger vehicles in order to ease the Obama-era ruling.
Notwithstanding Trump's executive order on Tuesday to dismantle the Clean Power Plan, emissions from U.S. power plants continue to decrease while those from transportation are on the rise, according to research (pdf) by Sivak and Schoettle posted here last July.
FULL STORY: What You Can Do About Climate Change
Are EPA's Fuel Efficiency Standards the Next Environmental Rollback?
Next on President Trump's environmental chopping block may be a rollback of fuel efficiency standards. Two auto associations have asked EPA Administer Scott Pruitt to review a decision made last month to retain a 54.5 mpg target.
2016: Year of the Sports Utility Vehicle
Last year set two notable vehicle records. First, the most cars ever sold, at 17.54 million. Second, light trucks accounted for almost 61 percent of all sales. Sales of more fuel efficient car fell, though electric vehicle sales increased.
Hybrid and Electric Cars Take a Downturn in the Used Car Market
It's not just Americans favor SUVs and light truck over compact cars, but that a majority of EV and hybrid owners who have traded in their cars are opting for all-gas vehicles, and that spells trouble for meeting President Obama's climate goals.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
Chicago’s Ghost Rails
Just beneath the surface of the modern city lie the remnants of its expansive early 20th-century streetcar system.
Study: Anti-Homelessness Laws Don’t Work
Research shows that punitive measures that criminalized unhoused people don’t help reduce homelessness.
The French Solution to Congested Tunnels: Make Them Car-Free
Bay Area transportation officials keep expanding car capacity. Lyon’s Croix Rousse Tunnel offers a different way.
Missouri Governor Reverses Anti-Discrimination Housing Policies
A new state law bars cities from prohibiting source-of-income discrimination against tenants using Section 8 housing vouchers.
USDOT Launches Unfunded 'SAFE ROADS' Program
The program targets “distractions” and “political messages or artwork,” and paves the way for autonomous vehicles.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
City of Fort Worth
planning NEXT
Mpact (founded as Rail~Volution)
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
City of Portland
City of Laramie