May 30, 1998 |
Catalytic converters, designed to scrub smog out of automobile exhaust, are spewing greenhouse gases from tailpipes into the upper atmosphere, the Environmental Protection Agency has concluded. The converters, while breaking down smog-causing nitrogen and oxygen from car exhaust, are also rearranging the compounds to form nitrous oxide, which is more than 300 times more potent than carbon dioxide, the most common of the greenhouse gases.
March 15, 1992 |
Bad science, Republican opportunism and neoliberal environmental regulation are now massing forces for merciless assault on that heart muscle of American civilization, the old car, or clunker. The White House, against the deadline of a primary in the auto-producing state of Michigan, has formulated a plan whereby companies that buy old cars and then junk them could get "pollution credits."
August 16, 1989 |
Atlantic Richfield Co. on Tuesday unveiled a low-emission unleaded gasoline to replace leaded regular, which the company has said it would drop from more than 700 Southern California stations on Sept. 1. The newly formulated gasoline--designed for use only by the area's 1.2 million vehicles without catalytic converters--is being introduced in part to bolster the oil company's argument that gasoline, not methanol, should be the main vehicle fuel under any clean-air plans.
April 27, 1989 |
Question: My car, a 1977 station wagon with a catalytic converter, now has more than 100,000 miles on it. Is the catalytic converter still doing what it is supposed to do? How much longer will it function well? What effect does the malfunctioning of a converter have on an engine? And what does all this have to do with air quality?--A.K.E. Answer: Until very recently, little was known publicly about how well emission systems hold up in cars as they age and accumulate miles. Under federal regulations, emissions systems in cars are supposed to continue to do their job for at least 5 years or 50,000 miles, and auto makers must warrant the key parts of the car that control emissions, including the catalytic converter.
February 22, 1989 |
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Tuesday that 109 muffler shops throughout the country are violating federal law by installing improper after-market catalytic converters on cars. The agency said that violation notices totaling more than $1 million in proposed fines have been sent to the shops, including 23 in California. Of the 23 California shops, 15 were identified as Midas Muffler outlets.
February 22, 1989 |
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Tuesday that 109 muffler shops throughout the country are violating federal law by installing improper after-market catalytic converters on cars. The agency said that violation notices totaling more than $1 million in proposed fines have been sent to the shops, including 23 in California, two of which are in Orange County. Of the 23 California shops, 15 were identified as Midas Muffler outlets.
December 15, 1988 |
Ford Motor Co., in a move that could mean major cost savings, said today that it has developed a substitute for precious platinum in catalytic converters used to clear vehicle emissions. Ford Chairman Donald Petersen, announcing the development in a speech in Pittsburgh, said the substitute is just as effective as platinum and is significantly cheaper.
December 18, 1986 |
A new way to remove pollutants from the exhaust gases of diesel motor vehicle engines and from the smokestacks of coal-burning power plants has been developed by government scientists at Sandia National Laboratory in Livermore, Calif. The process uses a relatively inexpensive nontoxic chemical that combines with the pollutants to form harmless nitrogen, carbon dioxide and water vapor.