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Executive Summary
Southern
Oregon’s roads are seeing more traffic every year. Between 1991 and
2003, the number of vehicle-miles traveled on Southern Oregon’s roads
increased nearly 14%. In Josephine County, traffic increased nearly
24%. Unfortunately, more cars on the roads also means more global
warming pollution that threatens precious Oregon resources. Scientists
have already measured a 50% decline in snowpack in the Cascades and if
no action is taken, global warming pollution from cars and trucks will
be 30% higher than 1990 levels by 2020. More cars also means more air
pollution, bad news for the Rogue Valley and its long-running struggle
with air quality problems. More cars also means more money spent at the
pump and more dependence on foreign oil.
The
good news for Oregon is that the Clean Cars program proposed by the
Department of Environmental Quality will help solve all of these
problems. Under the program, new cars and trucks, starting with model
year 2009, will emit 30% less global warming pollution, cutting total
global warming pollution from the vehicle fleet by between 12% and 18%
by 2020. New cars and trucks will emit between 12% and 38% lower levels
of a range of health-threatening air pollution. And new cars and trucks
will go farther on a gallon of gas, reducing our oil dependence and
saving Oregonians money at the pump. By 2016, Oregonians will see
annual net savings of $8.2 million because of the Clean Cars program, a
figure that rises to $40 million annually once car loans are paid off.
Automakers
have argued that these benefits can only come at the expense of reduced
choice for consumers and dramatic increases in the price of a car. But
this is simply not true. The Clean Cars program carefully avoids making
any type of vehicle unavailable. The program will actually result in
increased sales of hybrids and other advanced-technology cars and will
increase consumer choice. And gas savings will more than compensate for
the slight increase in the price of a car so that it will be cheaper
for Oregonians to own a car than it is today.
Oregon
should continue its legacy of environmental leadership by enacting the
Clean Cars program. The Clean Cars program will make Oregon a national
leader in curbing global warming and will give Rogue Valley residents
additional help in curbing health-threatening air pollution.
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