(The following Reuters article was published on the Reuters website on January 10.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Environmental Protection Agency unveiled on Friday a voluntary program with leading multi-national corporations to reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions they spew into the air that are linked to global warming.
The program aims to cut by 2012 significant amounts of air pollution and heat-trapping emissions from ground freight carriers like trucks and locomotives.
EPA hopes the program will reduce 18 million metric tons of carbon equivalent and 200,000 tons of nitrogen oxides over the next decade.
The program will also create fuel savings of up to 150 million barrels of oil a year, according to the agency.
EPA Administrator Christie Whitman said the program “will improve air quality and increase efficiency while transporting America’s goods and keeping our economy vital.”
The Bush administration’s plans to promote voluntary efforts among U.S. industries to cut their greenhouse gas emissions have been criticized by the European Union and Japan, who argue the United States must impose strict curbs to fight global warming.
The United States is the world’s biggest energy consumer and also the largest producer of heat-trapping emissions.
President Bush in 2001 pulled the United States out of the international Kyoto treaty that seeks to reduce greenhouse gas emissions among industrialized nations. He feared the accord would hurt the U.S. economy.
EPA’s new “SmartWay Transport” program is modeled after the agency’s successful “Energy Star” program that identified appliances and other consumer products that use less energy and have less pollution.
The SmartWay’s charter partners include, Coca-Cola Enterprises, United Parcel Service, FedEx Corp., CSX Corp., IKEA and Nike Inc .
Participating firms will eventually earn SmartWay labels for their vehicles that reduce emissions.
To be recognized as a SmartWay partner, companies would use the following environmental strategies and technologies:
— Reduce or eliminate idling of long-haul trucks, saving up to 2,000 gallons per truck a year.
— Use a streamlined profile truck tractor with aerodynamic devices such as cab extenders that can reduce fuel consumption by at least 600 gallons.
— Install automatic tire inflation systems to continually adjust tires and maintain proper tire pressure even when a truck is moving, which can save 90 gallons of fuel a year.
— Train drivers to reduce fuel consumption by using cruise control, coasting whenever possible, reducing maximum freeway speeds and minimizing truck idling.