Air pollutants cause health problems and smog. The air pollutants
coming out of a vehicle's tailpipe are tightly controlled
by EPA's emission regulations. Thanks to efforts from both
EPA (on the regulation side) and the automotive industry (on
the compliance side), today's vehicles are significantly cleaner
than in the past. Technology advances such as catalytic converters,
exhaust gas recirculation and electronic fuel controls have
made tighter pollution control from vehicles possible. However,
emission levels will still vary between vehicles, particularly
between classes of vehicles, due to differences in emission
standards. You can use the 0-10 emissions rating to compare
the cleanliness of any vehicle to any other vehicle regardless
of class. A higher score is always better. For instance, a
truck receiving a score of 8 is designed to be cleaner than
any car receiving a score of 7. Emissions performance should
be an important environmental consideration when buying a
vehicle.
|