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 he Union of Concerned Scientists has released the
first pollution ranking of the world's major automakers. DaimlerChrysler,
Ford, and General Motors landed three of the four worst polluter
slots, due largely to booming production of SUVs and other light
trucks, which are a third less fuel efficient and up to five
times dirtier than cars.
 "We've
all seen the commercials of SUVs communing with nature, but these
vehicles are far from environmentally friendly," said UCS
transportation analyst Candace Morey, lead author of "Pollution
Lineup: An Environmental Ranking of Automakers."
"Our
report separates the hype from the hardware," Morey said.
Cars and trucks
cause more environmental harm than any other consumer activity.
UCS, in collaboration with the American Council for an Energy-Efficient
Economy, analyzed the most recent data on air pollution and global
warming emissions to rank each automaker's new vehicle fleet.
Isuzu's vehicles
were found to be most polluting, followed by DaimlerChrysler,
Ford, General Motors, BMW, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Toyota, Volkswagen,
and Subaru. Honda's fleet has the best environmental performance
in today's market.
"The
Big Three can easily follow Honda's lead by using gas-saving
technologies and reducing auto emissions below required levels,"
said Roland Hwang, director of UCS's Transportation Program.
"Ford, for example, has the technology today to jump to
second best in our rankings."
Ten years
of stagnant fuel economy standards and booming sales of light
trucks have combined to drop US fuel economy to its lowest level
since 1980. A federal loophole allows SUVs and light trucks to
consume one-third more gas than cars, adding 240 million tons
of global warming gases to the atmosphere every year. Closing
the SUV loophole will move automakers closer to their advertising
image.
"We encourage
buying the cleanest car possible," said Morey. "But
when choosing among equally polluting vehicles, consumers should
buy from automakers with the superior environmental record."
The Union
of Concerned Scientists is an independent nonprofit alliance
of thousands of committed citizens and leading scientists working
for practical environmental solutions. Last year, UCS engineers
used affordable, existing technology to redesign a Ford Explorer
to achieve 50 percent better mileage and pollute 75 percent less,
at a lower total cost. 
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ucsusa.org.