NYT/Reuters: Big Three Cars Emit 230 Mln Tons of Greenhouse Gas

[DeepModem Mom]

Big Three Cars Emit 230 Mln Tons of Greenhouse Gas
By REUTERS
Published: June 28, 2006

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Cars built by the Big Three automakers gave off 230 million metric tons of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide in the United States in a year, more than the biggest U.S. electric utility, environmental researchers said on Wednesday.

General Motors (GM.N), Ford (F.N) and DaimlerChrysler (DCXGn.DE) cars and light trucks emitted nearly three-fourths of all carbon dioxide from vehicles on U.S. roads in 2004, the year for which statistics were available, according to the watchdog group Environmental Defense.

Nine other car manufacturers with vehicles on the U.S. market accounted for an additional 84 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions, bringing the total for all cars and light trucks in operation in 2004 to 314 million metric tons, the report found.

General Motors vehicles gave off 99 million metric tons or 31 percent of the total; Ford vehicles emitted 80 million metric tons or 25 percent and DaimlerChrysler vehicles emitted 51 million metric tons or 16 percent, according to the report.Electric Power (AEP.N), had emissions of 41 million metric tons.

Greenhouse gases, notably carbon dioxide, contribute to global warming, which in turn has been blamed for more severe hurricanes, rising seas and other environmental ills. Though greenhouse gas emissions have most frequently been associated with coal-fired power plants, the new report aims to point up comparable emissions from automobiles....

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/business/business-environment-greenhouse.html

[lindisfarne]

1. I know GM, Ford, & Chrysler "light trucks" (=SUVs) have far worse

mileage compared to Honda, Toyota, & Nissan SUVs, so I'm sure GM, Ford, & Chrysler emit disproportionately more CO2. But it would have been nice if the article had provide the breakdown of automobile share. It's meaningless to say GM vehicles produced 31% of the total, without saying what percent of the market GM has. If, as a hypothetical example, GM had 62% of the market (not true), then producing 31% of the CO2 isn't so bad.