Goal

Adopt the 14-state clean car emissions standards for cars & light-duty trucks in Illinois.

Background

• Chicago has one of the most severe asthma problems in the U.S., with hospitalization rates double the national average.
• Transportation sector contributes 26% of global warming pollution in Midwest.
• Clean Air Act gives states a choice between the federal vehicle standards (called Tier II) or the more protective standards set by California.
• Fourteen other states–including Arizona, Pennsylvania, Oregon and Maryland–have adopted the clean car standards. These states are home to about one-third of the U.S. vehicle market.
• The clean car standards include two components:
  • Low Emission Vehicles, Phase II regulates several critical air pollutants (such as carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and nitrogen oxides) and air toxics that cause cancer and birth defects.
  • Pavley Law regulates carbon dioxide—the first law in the nation’s history that sets a limit on vehicular global warming pollution.
• Automakers now build cleaner cars for the 14 states, and dirtier ones for the rest of us.

Environmental and public health benefits

Compared with the Tier II federal program, the clean car standards would, by 2030¹

• Reduce critical air pollutants by 5% to 16%
• Cut air toxics by 13% to 21%
• Slash carbon dioxide pollution by 32% (10.7 million metric tons annually)

The Harvard School of Public Health estimates these air quality improvements would, each year²

• Prevent 80,000 to 250,000 lost school days
• Cut respiratory symptoms by 100,000 occurrences
• Eliminate 34,000 to 96,000 minor restricted activity days

The California Air Resources Board estimates that the Pavley Law, in comparison with the recently-passed federal CAFÉ legislation, will

• Reduce global warming pollution by a total of 45% between 2009 and 2020 as the increasingly stricter standards take effect
• Result in 13% less carbon dioxide pollution per new vehicle beginning in 2020

Economic benefits

• Late in 2007, the U.S. government passed a new Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFÉ) program that tops off at 35.0 miles per gallon in 2020.  This means that under this program, by 2020, the average MPG for the nation’s new car fleet will be 35.0.
• The California Air Resources Board estimates that the greenhouse gas pollution reductions from the Pavley Law will create a new car fleet average of 39.2 MPG once the Pavley Law is fully implemented.
• The chart below summarizes annual gas savings for Illinois residents under three scenarios:
  • All cars in state complying with final year of Pavley Law implementation schedule, compared with Illinois’ 2005 average MPG of 20.8
  • All cars in state complying with final year of CAFÉ implementation schedule, compared with Illinois’ 2005 average MPG of 20.8
  • All cars in state complying with final year of Pavley Law implementation schedule, compared with final year of CAFÉ implementation schedule
• Job creation numbers were estimated by the University of Illinois Regional Economics Applications Laboratory, whose models state that 68% of those savings would be spent on goods/services in Illinois, instead of on gas made in other states, countries, and continents.  In turn, these additional dollars spent on in-state products lead to in-state job creation.
  

  Standard	Annual Gallons of Gas Saved	Annual Gas Costs Saved ($3.50/gallon)	Total Net New Jobs	Total Net New Union Jobs
  California compared to current federal standard	2.4 billion	$8.5 billion	91,969	13,852
  New CAFÉ program compared to current federal standard	2.1 billion	$7.4 billion	79,501	11,975
  California compared to new CAFÉ program	0.3 billion	$1.1 billion	12,468	1,877

  • By requiring the sale of cars, vans, and light-duty trucks with the lowest carbon dioxide pollution levels, the California clean car standards are good for Illinois’ ethanol industry.  Why?  Because ethanol-powered vehicles, particularly when cellulosic ethanol is more widely available, will be one of the key, low-carbon tools automakers will use to meet the standards. 

Other potential benefits

• Illinois is one of only two Midwest states with more than 10 million vehicles registered.
• Close to 40% of U.S. new car market will be covered by cleaner standards if Illinois adopts.
• Illinois thus could be tipping point where manufacturers decide it’s more economical to build cleaner cars for the entire nation.

Download the Clean Cars Fact Sheet (pdf).

¹Cambridge Systematics, Documentation of Tier II/LEV II Comparison, June 2005

²Environmental Law & Policy Center, Breathing Free in Illinois: Reducing Air Pollution and Improving Health through Cleaner Cars (pdf), April 2008