New Federal Emissions Rules

Last April, The New York Times reported on proposed U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rules tightening the limits on sulfur in gasoline, a change that would allow automobiles’ catalytic converters to capture more pollutants.  The new rules will be phased in gradually and cover only a fraction of new cars and trucks each model year.  The article points out that making the internal combustion engine more efficient will cause the conventional automobile to survive longer.  Alternative vehicles (those run on batteries, advanced biofuels, or hydrogen) are promising, expensive technologies, but are far from being in the mainstream.