According to a report released Wednesday by the American Lung Association, New Mexico could save 200 lives by switching over to Zero Emission Vehicles.
The report, titled “Driving to Clean Air: Health Benefits of Zero-Emission Cars and Electricity,” states that a widespread transition to zero-emission passenger vehicles and electricity would result in up to 194 fewer deaths and $2.1 billion in public health benefits across New Mexico by 2050.
As federal and state policymakers consider new vehicle standards, the Lung Association’s report says there would be great potential health benefits if all new passenger vehicles sold are zero-emission by 2035. The report also projects that the nation’s electric grid will be powered by clean, non-combustion renewable energy replacing fossil fuels by 2035.
JoAnna Strother is the Senior Advocacy Director for the American Lung Association in New Mexico. She says New Mexico has been ahead of many other states.
“New Mexico has already taken important steps towards a cleaner transportation sector including a previously adopted standard to bring more zero emission vehicles for sale through 2025. They adopted the Advanced Clean Cars Rule just last year,” she said. “Now New Mexico is looking at the Advanced Clean Cars 2 Rule as well as the Advanced Clean Trucks Rule. All of those are very important in adopting to have cleaner transportation that will of course clean up our air pollution burdens.”
The American Lung Association’s annual “State of the Air” report notes ongoing progress and challenges in local, state and federal efforts to achieve clean, healthy air for all communities.
The 2023 report found that over 35 percent of all Americans, approximately 120 million people, live in areas impacted by unhealthy levels of ozone and/or particle pollution. The report also notes that a person of color is 64 percent more likely than a white person to live in a community impacted by unhealthy air and 3.7 times more likely to live with the most polluted air in the United States.