California’s advocates for tougher fuel economy standards and zero-emission vehicle mandates received fodder for standing firm with their rules, as a nonprofit’s annual report found road emissions have undercut the state’s efforts to reduce pollution.
Emissions from on-road transportation rose by the equivalent of 4.4 million metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2015 from a year earlier, the San Francisco-based non-profit Next 10 said Monday. Motorists traveled more and some may have abandoned public transportation as gasoline prices fell, according to the group’s report, which found the the state’s total greenhouse gas emissions dropped at less than half the rate of the prior year.
