Houston is a car city. It has about 6,200 miles of roads and more than a million vehicles to use them. Our cars and trucks take us from home to school and from work to play, ready whenever we need them. But with that convenience comes drawbacks.
The city ranks ninth in the country in the number of high ozone days and 17th for annual particle pollution in the American Lung Association’s latest State of the Air report. Pollution is particularly harmful for children, the elderly, and those with lung problems such as asthma. There’s more than one culprit befouling our air, but transportation is responsible for almost half of all carbon emissions in Houston.
Increased use of public transportation options and less reliance on motor vehicles would be ideal, but we must face the fact that in a city that stretches for 669 square-miles, in a county more than twice that size, we are not going to get rid of our cars anytime soon. Fortunately, while cars are the problem, they can also be part of the solution, according to a study out of Cornell University.
More electric vehicles on our roads would help make the city greener, cleaner and healthier, said H. Oliver Gao, professor of civil and environmental engineering and senior author of the report.
Researchers looked at four different scenarios, with different levels of vehicle activity and emissions control, which paint alternate prospects for the region by 2040. Optimistic paths the city could take range from electrifying 35 percent of Houston’s cars, to a complete turnover divided between combustion vehicles with advanced emissions technologies and zero-emission electric vehicles. Even on the low end, electrification would result in a drop of 50 percent in emissions in 20 years.
The most daunting future comes if we do nothing. Taking no action, the business-as-usual route, would result in a 50 percent increase in emissions by 2040, leading to 122 more premature deaths in the area and thousands of missed school days as respiratory problems become exacerbated. While researchers say this scenario is unlikely, simply based on improvements to combustion engines, the Trump administration’s efforts to weaken tailpipe pollution standards show that it might not be that far-fetched.
While the federal government dithers, Houston is taking the pollution challenge seriously. The city is working on a climate action plan and electric vehicles are an important component, said Lara Cottingham, chief sustainability officer at the City of Houston.
Already, the city has partnered with the Kinder Institute for Urban Research at Rice University to study going electric with the city’s light-duty, non-emergency fleet — 8,000 vehicles out of a pool of about 12,000. The city is committed to doing this, officials said, and the study will help determine the best way to go about it, including the kind of technology used and the time frame to implement the changeover.
This is welcome news, but that’s only a drop in the bucket for the numbers needed to reach even the optimistic but modest goal of 35 percent highlighted in the Cornell study. For that, Houston must lead by making it easier for private owners to switch to an electric vehicle.
Some of the measures Houston is considering are examining building codes to make sure new homes and other construction can accommodate electric vehicle needs, as well as working with apartment buildings that do not offer a way to charge. The city is also looking at how to make charging stations more widely available, both through public-private partnerships or in more city-owned locations such as fire stations, libraries, community centers and parks.
The city can go further and consider active incentives, including free parking for electric vehicles downtown, priority lanes, grants for employers to install chargers, even discounts on city events for EV owners.
Electric vehicles are still not ideal for long distance travel and the fastest charging times take longer than a quick visit to a gas station, but they are the future. Car companies are introducing new models, range is improving, and prices are expected to be comparable with traditional vehicles in the next three to five years. They also cost less to operate and maintain.
More importantly, as the Cornell study illustrates, our health as a community depends on us making this change. There is more to do, but we are glad to report that Houston shows the willingness to do it.