EPA to Auto Industry: Report Those Greenhouse Gases

This is not George W. Bush's Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA proposed a far-reaching rule yesterday which would require all the industries producing greenhouse gases to report their emissions.

This will not necessarily be an onerous burden on the auto industry, though it is one of the leading emitters. Vehicles account for 26 percent of U.S. emissions, according to federal estimates.

The information doesn't make it onto the window sticker, but the EPA already measures carbon dioxide (CO2) from automobiles. Consumers, in fact, can get that information simply by visiting the EPA/Department of Energy FuelEconomy.gov website and clicking links to any car on the market. The two-wheel-drive version of the Ford Escape Hybrid, for instance, has a "carbon footprint" on the low end of the spectrum, at just 5.7 tons of CO2 annually. But the Hummer H3, with four-wheel-drive, is a bad boy at 11.4 tons each year.

"They already have that information, considering the battery of EPA tests to which our cars are subjected," said Greg Martin, a Washington spokesman for General Motors. Ed Cohen, a Honda vice president, adds that the major new burden on automakers will be a requirement that they measure leakage from auto air-conditioning units.

Cathy Milbourn, a spokesperson for the EPA, offers a clarification. "What we're doing under the proposal is looking at all global warming gases, including methane and nitrous oxide, not just CO2, and not just what comes out of the tailpipe." Milbourn confirms that the rule would require automakers to report on "all air-conditioning-related greenhouse gases."

Charles Territo, a spokesman for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, said that the EPA actually determines fuel economy (which is on the window sticker) by measuring CO2 in grams per mile. "Don't say we're fighting this one," Territo said. "Manufacturers are already to a large extent participating in voluntary CO2 registry programs."

Did I mention that it's not G.W. Bush's EPA? A new document on the fuel economy site makes explicit the connection between auto emissions and global warming. "Burning fossil fuels such as gasoline and diesel releases carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases (GHGs) into the atmosphere, contributing to global climate change," it says. Under the heading "You'd be Amazed," it adds, "Each gallon of gasoline you burn creates 20 pounds of CO2."