Whats Been Done to Control Carbon Monoxide Levels?
The Clean Air Act gives state and local governments primary responsibility for regulating pollution from power plants, factories, and other “stationary sources.” The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has primary responsibility for “mobile source” pollution control. The EPA motor vehicle program has achieved considerable success in reducing carbon monoxide emissions. EPA standards in the early 1970’s prompted auto makers to improve basic engine design. By 1975, most new cars were equipped with catalytic converters designed to convert carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide. Catalysts typically reduce carbon monoxide emissions upwards of 80 percent. In the early 1980’s, automakers introduced more sophisticated converters, plus on-board computers and oxygen sensors to help optimize the efficiency of the catalytic converter. Today’s passenger cars are capable of emitting 90 percent less carbon monoxide over their lifetimes than their uncontrolled counterparts of the 1960’s. As a result,
