US shift to zero-emission vehicles ‘will save lives and generate massive health benefits’

A national shift to widespread clean, zero-emission transportation over the next 3 decades would save more than 110,000 lives and generate $1.2 trillion in public health benefits in the U.S., according to the American Lung Association.

The American Lung Association (ALA) released its “Zeroing in on Healthy Air” report, which highlights potential health and climate benefits if all new passenger vehicles sold are zero-emission by 2035 and all new heavy-duty vehicles are zero-emission by 2040. The report also projects that the U.S. electric grid will be powered by clean, non-combustion renewable energy replacing dirty fossil fuels by 2035, according to an ALA press release.

According to the report, a widespread transition to electric transportation would:

• generate more than $1.2 trillion in health benefits by 2050;
• generate $1.7 trillion in additional climate benefits by 2050;
• result in 110,000 avoided deaths;
• result in 2.79 million avoided asthma exacerbations; and
• result in 13.4 million avoided lost workdays.

“While the benefits noted above are cumulative between 2020 and 2050, this analysis also finds that annual health benefits could reach into the tens of billions by the end of this decade — nearly $28 billion in 2030 alone. Health benefits increase significantly as deployments of zero-emission technologies in the transportation and electricity generating sectors expand,” according to the report.

Currently, 15 U.S. states have adopted zero-emission transportation standards for passenger vehicles and more states continue to pursue zero-emission truck requirements.

The top 10 metro areas projected to benefit the most from transitioning to zero-emission transportation from 2020 to 2050 are:

• Los Angeles-Long Beach, California;
• New York-Newark, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania;
• Chicago-Naperville, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin;
• San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, California;
• Philadelphia-Reading-Camden, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland;
• Washington-Baltimore-Arlington, D.C., Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania;
• Miami-Port St. Lucie-Fort Lauderdale, Florida;
• Houston-The Woodlands, Texas;
• Detroit-Warren-Ann Arbor, Michigan; and
• Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, Oklahoma.

“This analysis found that the 100 U.S. counties (roughly 3 percent of all counties assessed) with the highest percent populations of People of Color could experience approximately 13 percent of the cumulative health benefits of this transition ($155 billion, between 2020-2050). Expanding this further, the 500 U.S. counties (16 percent of counties assessed) with the highest percent populations of People of Color could experience 40 percent of the benefits, or $487 billion cumulatively between 2020 and 2050,” according to the report.

“Too many communities across the U.S. deal with high levels of dangerous pollution from nearby highways and trucking corridors, ports, warehouses and other pollution hot spots,” Harold Wimmer, national president and CEO of the ALA, said in the release. “Plus, the transportation sector is the nation’s biggest source of carbon pollution that drives climate change and associated public health harms. This is an urgent health issue for millions of people in the U.S.”

“The shift to zero-emission transportation and electricity generation will save lives and generate massive health benefits across the United States,” Wimmer said “It is critical that we ensure these benefits are realized in the near term in communities most impacted by harmful pollution today.”

Reference:

• New report: Transition to zero-emission vehicles would save more than 100,000 lives, generate $1 trillion in public health benefits. Published March 30, 2022. Accessed March 30, 2022.