SUVs Set to Get a Kick Up the Tailpipe

Their owners love them — sport utility vehicles and light trucks now make up almost half of the vehicles on American roads. They also inspire a lot of animosity: They’re big, they terrify sedan drivers and they pollute more than cars. But that last complaint is about to change. On Tuesday, President Clinton and the Environmental Protection Agency are announcing tough new emissions standards that will apply not only to cars but also to the ubiquitous family of Explorers, Expeditions, Range Rovers and the like. The institution of these new standards, to be required in all 2004 models, will be helped along by the EPA’s strict new directive to refiners: Reduce the sulfur content in gasoline by 90 percent. This two-prong approach is critical, because cars using gas with lower sulfur levels produce less pollution — and make automakers’ anti-smog adjustments more effective.

While cleaner-burning fuels have cut down significantly on car emissions, Americans’ love affair with SUVs and light trucks has virtually arrested larger environmental gains. “Even though emissions standards for cars have been pretty tough, we were seeing ever-increasing pollution because more people are driving trucks and SUVs,” says TIME environment editor Charles Alexander. While the new gas and emissions requirements will cost consumers a little bit more at the pump (estimates vary between 2 and 6 cents a gallon) and at the car dealerships (about $200 for the extra equipment), the bulk of the outlay will be borne by oil refiners and automakers. “The car makers were actually reasonably happy with this deal,” says Alexander. “They can share the burden of expense and responsibility with the refiners.” The automakers’ joy is inconsequential, of course, when compared with the joy of sedan drivers everywhere: At last, owners of SUVs will be brought into line with everyone else. Now if only they could be made safe enough not to crush poor little Hyundais…