Gasoline- and diesel-powered vehicles 20 years old or older expose Californians to significant harmful air pollution even though they represent a relatively small fraction of the passenger vehicles on the road.
Moreover, the harm falls disproportionately on Latino and Black Californians, lower-income households, and communities the state designates as disadvantaged. To ensure that all Californians have access to cleaner transportation options, the Union of Concerned Scientists and the Greenlining Institute recommend the following changes in state policies and programs:
- Prioritize existing incentive programs, such as Clean Cars 4 All and the Clean Vehicle Assistance Program, toward priority populations owning old cars.
- Target outreach and education to households in areas with high concentrations of old cars and limited uptake of zero-emissions vehicles.
- Provide transportation solutions that go beyond private passenger vehicles.
- Evaluate and adjust incentive programs based on changing conditions in the electric vehicle market.
In this report
Older vehicles produce disproportionate amount of harmful air pollutants
PM 2.5 Pollution from Older Cars and Household Income
PM 2.5 pollution from Older Cars and Race/Ethnicity
Downloads
Citation
Beyer, Matthew, Ashley Gerrity, Román Partida-López, and David Reichmuth. 2023. Cleaner Cars, Cleaner Air: Replacing California's Oldest and Dirtiest Cars Will Save Money and Lives. Cambridge, MA: Union of Concerned Scientists. https://doi.org/10.47923/2023.15101.
Related resources
Freight
UCS: What We Do
EV batteries
