This post is the first in a series.
The Environmental and Climate Justice Implications
President Donald Trump’s attack on electric vehicles threatens not only the nation’s progress in fighting climate change, but torpedoes our ability to achieve healthy air. The Inauguration Day executive order on “Unleashing American Energy” calls for eliminating the “electric vehicle (EV) mandate” and “unfair subsidies and other ill-conceived government distortions that favor EVs ….” Slowing our transition to clean vehicles will have the worst consequences for vulnerable frontline communities living near highways, ports, and warehouses, communities that already experience a disproportionate share of environmental harms.
The Transportation Sector’s Contribution to Air Pollution and Climate Change
EPA has observed that “[p]ollution from the transportation sector has been a long-standing obstacle to advancing environmental justice, as many communities of color and low-income families live near areas where pollution from vehicles and engines is abundant, and therefore experience disproportionate exposures to this pollution.” As of 2023, EPA estimates that almost 140 million people in the United States live in counties that do not meet public health standards for conventional pollutants. According to the American Lung Association, the residents of these counties are disproportionately people of color.
Nationally, vehicles contribute 26 percent of U.S. nitrogen oxide emissions, which contribute to unhealthy levels of smog (ozone). In California, the state with the worst air quality in the nation, three-fourths of nitrogen oxide emissions come from vehicles. Diesel emissions from trucks and equipment are especially dangerous. California estimates that 70 percent of the state’s cancer risk comes from diesel fuel combustion, risks that are concentrated in the communities that experience high levels of truck traffic.
Transportation emissions are also the single largest contributor to U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, constituting 35 percent of U.S. emissions. However much the Trump administration may seek to deny it, climate change is already posing an existential risk, especially to those who lack the resources to adapt and recover.
The Importance of EVs to Meeting Public Health and Climate Goals
Rigorous emission controls on internal combustion engines have substantially reduced mobile source pollution, but they are not enough. To meet the federal government’s public health standards for conventional pollutants (the National Ambient Air Quality Standards), California is relying on increasing numbers of electric vehicles. Many states, facing similar challenges in meeting public health standards, have followed California’s lead.
Conclusion
To achieve healthy air and avert the worst impacts of climate change, the era of burning fossil fuels inside our cars and trucks must come to a close. Millions of marginalized communities still breathe unhealthy air and are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Transitioning to a clean transportation system requires regulatory pushes (to be discussed in Part II of this series) and government investment (to be discussed in Part III).
