skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

AZ Advocates Celebrate EPA Clean Car Standards

play audio
Play

Friday, April 2, 2010   

PHOENIX - New federal clean car standards will require improved gas mileage and reduced car and truck emissions over the next six years. Arizona environmental and public health groups are praising the rules, saying the result will be lower overall transportation costs and improved public health.

Barbara Burkholder, former director of Arizona's Public Health Association, says the rules will also produce significant health benefits.

"It's good for babies who breathe more pollution per-pound of body; it's good for all of us in the community and it's good for people who have lung and heart disease. This is going to be a great improvement."

The Phoenix region currently is in violation of federal air pollution standards. The new clean-car requirements will boost average fuel economy to nearly 36 miles per gallon by 2016, while cutting emissions by 30 percent.

Burkholder, who drives a five-year-old Toyota Prius that gets 54 miles per gallon, says the new clean car standards will mean overall savings for new car and truck buyers.

"You may pay a little bit more to purchase your car, but the amount of fuel you have to buy will be drastically less."

The new rules will bring the rest of the country in line with California's more-stringent emission and fuel economy requirements, which Arizona adopted in 2008, Burkholder says.

"What's so remarkable about this announcement by EPA is that it makes these standards nationwide. You begin to change the whole fleet of vehicles in the United States, you're going to get a more-rapid improvement."

The new standards mark the first time the EPA is regulating greenhouse gases under the authority of the Clean Air Act.

Groups supporting the EPA standards include the Arizona Public Health Association, Sierra Club, Arizona Public Interest Research Group Education Fund, Southwest Energy Efficiency Project, Republicans for Environmental Protection, and Environment Arizona.



get more stories like this via email

more stories
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week about the popular abortion pill Mifepristone and will weigh in on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was correct in how it can be dosed and prescribed. (Ascannio/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Missouri residents are worried about future access to birth control. The latest survey from The Right Time, an initiative based in Missouri…


Social Issues

play sound

Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

Social Issues

play sound

Almost 2,900 people are unsheltered on any given night in the Beehive State. Gov. Spencer Cox is celebrating signing nine bills he says are geared …


The U.S. teaching workforce remains primarily white while the percentage of Black teachers has declined. However, the percentage of Asian and Latinx teachers is rising.(WavebreakMediaMicro/Adobestock)

Social Issues

play sound

Education advocates are calling on lawmakers to increase funding for programs to combat the teacher shortage. Around 37% of schools nationwide …

Environment

play sound

New York's Legislature is considering a bill to get clean-energy projects connected to the grid faster. It's called the RAPID Act, for "Renewable …

Many factors affect a customer's bill amount, including energy usage, weather, and the number of days in a billing period, according to Arizona Public Service. (Jason Yoder/Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021