WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Obama administration yesterday announced new fuel and automobile rules to cut soot, smog and toxic emissions, which it says will reduce asthma and heart attacks in the United States.
The rules unveiled by the Environmental Protection Agency will cut sulfur levels in gasoline by more than 60 percent and will be phased in between 2017 and 2025.
Health advocates praised the move, while a petroleum refiners’ group called the compliance schedule unrealistic and warned that these regulations and others would eventually raise gasoline prices throughout the country.
“By reducing these pollutants and making our air healthier, we will bring relief to those suffering from asthma, other lung diseases and cardiovascular disease, and to the nation as a whole,” said Dr Albert Rizzo, former chairman of the American Lung Association.
Once fully in place, the standards will help avoid up to 2,000 premature deaths per year and 50,000 cases of respiratory ailments in children while adding only an average of 1 cent per gallon to the cost of gasoline, the agency estimated.
Charles Drevna, president of the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers, rejected the agency’s cost estimate.
“We are rapidly approaching California gasoline as the nationwide fuel,” Drevna said at the IHS CERAWeek energy conference in Houston.
