U.S. Automotive Emissions Controls: How Well Are They Working?

The automotive emissions program is far from perfect. It is too inflexible and too costly; it is long on command-and-control and short on incentives. But, as this paper indicates, the program is achieving substantial reductions in pollutant emissions. The real question, then, is not whether the program is achieving emissions reductions but whether the benefits of those reductions are worth the costs and how the program might be redesigned so as to achieve those benefits at lower costs. 4 references.