How Clean Is Your Car? Find Out, Just A Click Away

Environmental Defense’s Pollution Prevention Alliance today released its expanded Tailpipe Tally — a web-based tool that allows consumers to quickly compare and contrast the environmental performance of any vehicle. The site, www.environmentaldefense.org/go/tailpipe, provides pollution and fuel cost information for both old and new model cars and trucks, and shows what environmental and financial benefits are possible if automakers use the best technologies available.

“The Tailpipe Tally provides the simplest way to get the most relevant information about fuel costs and pollution from the use of your vehicle,” said Dean Menke, Environmental Defense engineer. “With this information, consumers can begin to make driving and vehicle purchasing decisions that help protect the environment and save money.”

The Tailpipe Tally is easy to use. By choosing key parameters from pull-down menus, the user can select and compare up to four new or used vehicles at one time. For example, a user can compare a current vehicle to any new vehicle offered in 2001, or two new vehicles can be compared side by side. Key parameters include: 1) miles traveled per year (optional); 2) model year (from 1978-2001); 3) vehicle make; 4) vehicle model; and 5) tailpipe emission standard (from a given list).

The Tally calculates and presents the following estimates for each vehicle: fuel consumption, fuel cost, carbon dioxide emissions (contribute to global warming), and emissions of carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons (all contribute to urban air pollution, including smog).

The Tally also allows any late-model vehicle (1999, 2000, or 2001) to be compared to the “Clean Car Standard” — a performance-based standard established by the national Clean Car Campaign, a coalition of environmental and public interest organizations. This comparison depicts the environmental performance achievable if automakers adopt the best mainstream technologies available to the industry to improve fuel economy and reduce emissions. The Tally also shows the financial savings possible if the Clean Car Standard were achieved. Tally users are encouraged to support the Clean Car Campaign by taking the “Clean Car Pledge,” which challenges industry to offer cleaner vehicle choices in all vehicle classes.

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