Move to electric vehicles could save nearly 90,000 lives in US by 2050, study saysBy Jen Christensen, CNN
If gas guzzlers disappeared from US car lots by 2035 and were replaced by zero-emissions vehicles – essentially, electric cars, trucks and SUVs – the nation would see 89,300 fewer premature deaths by 2050, according to a new report from the American Lung Association. But the country would also have to move more toward clean noncombustion electricity – like wind, solar, hydro, geothermal and nuclear – to see the full health benefit.
The report, published Wednesday, says that people in the US would have 2.2 million fewer asthma attacks and 10.7 million fewer lost workdays, and the country would net $978 billion in public health benefits with the move to cleaner vehicles and a cleaner power supply.
The “Driving to Clean Air: Health Benefits of Zero-Emission Cars and Electricity” report uses an analysis of data from the association’s March 2022 report “Zeroing in on Healthy Air.”
Transportation is the leading source of air pollution in the US and the largest creator of carbon pollution that drives the climate crisis, the US Environmental Protection Agency has found. And exposure to any kind of pollution hurts our health: Studies show that it significantly raises the risk of premature death or chronic conditions like asthma, heart problems and even depression and Alzheimer’s.
About 120 million people in the US live in areas with unhealthy air, according to an American Lung Association report published this year.
Low-income communities and communities of color, regardless of income, are disproportionately affected by this health threat. These communities often live closer to major sources of air pollution like major highways and power plants, studies show.
“This transition to zero-emission technologies is critical as a whole but especially critical in making sure that we’re targeting policies and investments and incentive programs so that all communities can take advantage of these health benefits and more healthier transportation choices,” Barrett said.
The switch to zero-emission vehicles would mean a massive change for the US. Although the number of people who drive them is growing, just 4.6% of cars sold in the US in 2021 were electric, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The switch would require an investment up-front, says Dr. Jason West, who studies pollution research and its impact on public health, but the benefits may well exceed the costs of those actions in the first place.
“There are huge health benefits to be gained by switching broadly to electric vehicles,” said West, a professor in the Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering at the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina, who was not involved with the new report. “The other part of the report says that this positive health result comes when it is coupled with noncombustion electricity generation. So that’s an important part, too. It’s not just switching to electric vehicles but providing the extra electricity needed for those electric vehicles. So that would be renewables, wind and solar or possibly nuclear.”
https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/06/health/electric-vehicles-save-nearly-90-000-lives/index.html
