sportation is a leading source of harmful air pollution in the United States. It represents half of the total ozone as well as nitrogen oxide emissions."
Models generated for this report estimate that a full transition to electric cars would reduce, by 2050:
- Ozone- and particle-forming nitrogen oxides by 1 million tons a year, an 82% reduction.
- Fine particle pollution from tailpipes by nearly 30,600 tons, a 62% reduction.
- Greenhouse gas emissions by more than 1.4 billion metric tons, a 90% reduction.
California, Texas, New York, Florida, and Illinois would see the biggest benefit from a fully electric U.S. car fleet, in terms of billions in health care cost savings, the report found.
Accordingly, the cities that would benefit most from all-electric highways are Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Chicago, and Dallas, the report said.
Everyone's health will benefit from reductions in air pollution, but none more than that of U.S. minority groups, McCormack said.
"People of color were 50% more likely to live in a county with at least one failing grade for an air pollutant, and over three times more likely to live in a county with a failing grade for all three metrics, which included ozone, particle pollution on a daily level, and particle pollution looked at annually," McCormack said.
Barrett said electric vehicles alone won't ensure clean air for the nation, however. Progress still needs to be made in transitioning power plants away from coal and fossil fuels.
"We know that as we transition to electric vehicles, at the same time we need to be on a parallel track to reduce our dependence on fossil fuel-generated power," Barrett said. "As more coal and more fossil fuels come offline, the benefits of electric vehicles will only grow. There's no doubt that we need to address both the tailpipe and the power sources."
The American Lung Association urged government at all levels to enact policies to promote electric vehicles, including tighter vehicle standards, tax credits for car purchases, fully electric public fleets, and an expansion of charging stations along major highways and roads nationwide.
"With the widespread transition to electric vehicles, we have an opportunity to save lives, prevent asthma attacks, and to also avoid tens of billions of dollars in health costs and costs associated with climate change," said Harold Wimmer, president and CEO of the American Lung Association.