Thanks to the new rules the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced for automakers, Americans are expected to save over $1 trillion in the next 30 years, Yale Climate Connections reported.
The EPA's new restrictions lower the average amount of heat-trapping gases that an automaker's cars are allowed to produce. According to Yale Climate Connections, the previous rules, effective through 2026, allow an average of 186 grams of carbon dioxide (CO2) per mile traveled.
The new rules slash that number by more than half, allowing only 82 grams of CO2 per mile by 2032.
According to Yale Climate Connections, automakers could achieve that number in a variety of ways. However, the most obvious solution is to switch from manufacturing gas-powered vehicles, which generate a lot of air pollution, to electric vehicles (EVs), which don't give off exhaust at all.
EVs are already growing in popularity, with sales approaching 6% of all new vehicles in 2022, Yale Climate Connections reported. Bloomberg reported that in many other countries, the 5% mark had been a tipping point, after which EV sales began to boom.
Rising efficiency, sinking costs, and wider availability of charging stations all make drivers more likely to choose an EV.
Without the new guidelines, the EPA estimated that EVs would only account for around 40% of new car sales by 2030. But with the new restrictions on CO2 production, automakers will be required to produce 60% EVs by 2030 and 67% by 2032.
These rules will ultimately save Americans money. The EPA estimated that EV owners would save $1,100 per year in fuel and maintenance costs compared to owners of gas-powered cars, per Yale Climate Connections.
Meanwhile, lowering the amount of air pollution produced by cars will have significant health benefits and even save lives — not to mention how much it will help the environment.
The EPA estimated its new rules would prevent 1,000 deaths in the next 30 years. However, climate and health modeling expert Drew Shindell at Duke University's Nicholas School for the Environment told Yale Climate Connections that the estimate was "both reasonable and likely too low" thanks to the conservative calculations the agency used.
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