Mainers who are concerned about greenhouse gas emissions have repeatedly attempted to drivers of internal combustion engine vehicles, citing that “29 percent of US emissions are from the transportation industry.” Global CO2 emissions are undeniably high, and ongoing debates on their effects and the best way to combat them are undoubtedly valuable. However, placing the blame squarely on Mainers driving cars is not the logical response.
Most recently, the Portland Press Herald published a letter not only objecting to car emissions but also advising drivers to change their driving speed to optimize fuel efficiency for purely environmental reasons.
Maine is a rural state lacking widespread public transportation, requiring many Mainers to drive long distances on a daily basis. Further, due to the state’s rough terrain and weather, many Mainers drive sturdy, high-mile-to-gallon vehicles. Despite this, when one looks at the evidence of emissions and compares Maine’s car emissions to those of other states and other emissions industries, it becomes clear that Maine’s drivers are not to blame for our greenhouse gas problems.
Drivers have been blamed for emissions concerns for a while in Maine. From constant ambitious plans for EV rollouts to regulatory petitions from environmental activist groups, it is clear that many consider cars largely responsible for continued emissions.
While driving the speed limit for the safety of oneself and others is the correct behavior for any driver, doing so will not substantially affect the environment. While some claim that the 29% number indicates that car drivers must change their behavior to reduce emissions substantially, major caveats make this statistic meaningless in Maine.
First, even if transportation continues to be a substantial part of Maine’s emissions, our global emissions impact as a state is close to zero. Maine is about a quarter of a percent of the United States’ total CO2 emissions, meaning that our impact on the nation’s total emissions is a rounding error. The nation’s emissions are far from the worst globally, at only 13% of global emissions. This appears high when considering emissions per capita, but the ratio of emissions to US GDP is far closer to the global norm.
Maine represents one-quarter of one percent of 15 percent of global emissions, far from substantial. But even more, context shows how small car emissions are in that formula. Looking deeper into the 29% number, we see it represents the entire transportation industry, not just cars. Removing non-car transportation reduces that number to about 16% of emissions. Even more Maine-specific data shows that total transportation emissions comprise about 49% of Maine’s total emissions. Light-duty passenger cars and trucks only make up 59% of that, meaning around 29% of Maine’s emissions are related to most driving.
Combining these numbers shows that Maine’s auto emissions account for approximately 00.01%, about a percent of a percent of global emissions. That’s equivalent to one ton of CO2 in every 10,000 emitted globally. According to the Smithsonian, that’s as rare as a four-leaf clover. Even if one agrees that Maine should target Carbon emissions reduction, it is clear that we should not be obsessing over cars’ fuel efficiency.