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clean car campaign in the news

2008

October

24-Oct-08: Is your car making you sick?
As environment-friendly Martha Stewart might know, that new car smell is not a good thing. Download PDF.

16-Oct-08: Green-jobs program pushed, aiming for 5 million positions
U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow joined a coalition of environmental and labor groups Wednesday in Detroit to unveil the New Apollo Program, a 10-year, $500-billion plan to create 5 million green jobs in the United States. Download PDF.

August

21-Aug-08: California Case Sets Stage to End Use Of Toxic Lead Wheel-Balancing Weights
California once again is taking a lead role in a significant environmental cleanup effort involving the automobile. Download PDF.

21-Aug-08: Lead wheel weights to be phased out in California by end of 2009
Chrysler and three lead wheel weight makers agree to the phaseout in a settlement of a suit brought by an environmental group, which contended the car parts threatened drinking water. Download PDF.

20-Aug-08: Press Release: Chrysler, Wheel Weight Makers Agree to Eliminate Lead
Water Pollution Threat from Lead-based Wheel Weights Forces Companies to Reformulate Products for the California Market. Download PDF.

18-Aug-08: If You Notice a Little ‘Off-Gassing,’ Blame the Car
There is no nice way to say this, so I’m just going to throw it out there: Odds are, your car and your child-safety seats are releasing toxic chemicals into the air you breathe through a process called “off-gassing.” Download PDF.

July

29-Jul-08: Les Schwab Tire Centers to Phase-Out Lead Wheel Weights
Les Schwab Tire Centers announced today that it plans to phase out use of lead based wheel weights for wheel balancing on passenger cars and light trucks in all stores throughout its seven states of operation. Download PDF.

7-Jul-08: Industry's still moving to get lead out of wheel weights
The tire distribution business may not be hurrying to get the lead out of wheel balancing weights, but it definitely is moving in that direction. Download PDF.

April

Apr-08: Wheel weight update -- Lead isn’t dead, but steel is the real deal.
The majority of wheel weights are still made of lead. That won’t last forever, however. Download PDF.

February

29-Feb-08: Atlanta plays part in mercury-recovery milestone.
Nation's top environmental regulator was on hand to pull the one millionth mercury switch out of a junked car. Download PDF.

14-Feb-08: Emerging contaminants in car interiors: evaluating the impact of airborne PBDEs and PBDD/Fs.
This study demonstrates that car interiors, especially when new, contain high levels of airborne PBDEs and represent a potential route of human exposure via inhalation. Download PDF.

January

21-Jan-08: Automakers look to green cars' insides
From concept cars partially made of discarded soft-drink bottles to plant-based material used in seats and upholstery, automakers are looking at ways to make their vehicles more environmentally friendly. Download PDF.

16-Jan-08: Analysis: Nano Hypocrisy?
One car gets 46 miles per gallon, features fancy accessories, and sports two engines with a combined 145 horsepower. The other car reportedly gets 54 miles per gallon, runs on a diminutive 30-horsepower engine, and is positively spartan in its interior trimmings. The first is a darling of the environmentally conscious. The latter is reviled as a climate wrecker. Download PDF.

13-Jan-08: Invisible hitchhikers may be lurking in your car
"Oh great, my child's going to be a mutant," says Lou Terrier as the woman explains to him why she wants to look inside his car. Then Bobbi Chase Wilding slips into the passenger seat of Terrier's family wagon, takes a large gray gun from a shopping bag, removes a rectangular, metallic cap from the business end, aims it point-blank at the dashboar, and pulls the trigger.

11-Jan-08: Mercury law means putting in additional effort to save energy
Switching to those new energy-efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs is a great idea. Unless you break one, that is: As of last week, it's illegal to throw it away. Download PDF.

2007

December

14-Dec-08: Senate Approves Trimmed-Back Energy Bill
The Senate passed a trimmed-back energy bill that would bring higher-gas mileage cars and SUVs into showrooms in the coming decade and fill their tanks with ethanol. Download PDF.

13-Dec-05: Senate approves fuel economy increase for cars, SUVs
The U.S. Senate passed a historic 40% increase in fuel economy standards Thursday, clearing a path to becoming law after Democrats shed a $21.8 billion tax plan in the face of a Republican filibuster and a veto threat from the Bush Administration. Download PDF.

2005

May/June

May/June-05: UAW pushes tax incentive to produce advanced technology vehicles and components in the U.S.
From the outside, it’s hard to tell a conventional Ford Escape SUV from the hybrid version. But there are some notable differences. One is the hybrid’s distinctive “green leaf” badge on the back and sides. Download PDF.

19-May-05: WATER POLLUTION: EPA drops blending proposal as House readies for vote
U.S. EPA decided this morning it would not finalize a controversial plan that allows the blending of partially and fully treated wastewater as the agency's critics in Congress prepared for a House floor debate to challenge the policy later today. Download PDF.

February

28-Feb-05: REPORT: AUTOMAKERS SHOULD USE SAFER PLASTICS
A new report by an environmental group says car companies could be using environmentally safer plastics in their automobiles. Download PDF.

24-Feb-05: Manufacturers failing to use non-toxic, recyclable materials -- report
Major U.S. automakers do little to build cars with non-toxic, recyclable plastics, according to a report released yesterday by a Michigan-based advocacy group. Download PDF.

23-Feb-05: Toyota tops in 'green' plastics use
Toyota Motor Corp. was tops in a new study of the leading automakers' use of nontoxic, recyclable plastics in their vehicles sold in the United States, though no one received a grade higher than a "C." Download PDF.

2002

July

30-Jul-02: New Report Measures U.S. Automakers' Corporate Culpabilities for Global Warming Pollution
WASHINGTON, D.C. --- A new report issued today by Environmental Defense appraises for the first time the carbon dioxide (CO2) produced by the new vehicles sold each year by major auto manufacturers. General Motors' fleet imposes the largest "carbon burden," producing 6.7 million metric tons per year.

2001

July

8-Jul-01: Lots of Finger-Pointing Over Mercury in Cars
What do your car's high-intensity headlamps, antilock brake system, navigation screen and trunk- or hood-mounted light switches have in common? All may contain mercury, a highly toxic element. Download PDF.

4-Jun-01: Great Lakes Radio Consortium (GLRC)

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