Cars are polluting less — but for how long?
Cars are getting more efficient and less polluting, resulting in better air quality for everyone, according to a new report from the Environmental Protection Agency. But with a new administration coming in that has made climate change and air pollution less of a priority — and drilling for more fossil fuels more of one — it’s unclear how sustainable this trend will be.
In the US, new model cars are traveling further on less gas, the EPA reports. Real-world fuel economy improved by 1.1 miles per gallon of gasoline to a “record high” of 27.1 mpg for model year 2023 vehicles. That’s an improvement of 13.1mpg since 1975, when the EPA first began gathering fuel economy data.
These gains in fuel economy do not take into account the EPA’s...