How switching to EVs would improve health in the US

Long Beach, CA, SUNDAY, MAY 3, 2020, - Thousands of new cars are stored at a logistics service yard at the port. | Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

A major shift to electric vehicles and a clean power grid in the US could save tens of thousands of lives over the next few decades, according to a new report by the American Lung Association.

The drop in pollution from tailpipes and power plants would prevent up to 110,000 premature deaths by 2050, the report projects. It would also avoid 2.78 million asthma attacks and 13.4 million lost workdays. All in all, that would amount to $1.2 trillion in public health benefits.

That’s assuming all new passenger cars sold in the US are EVs by 2035 and all new heavy-duty vehicles sold are electric by 2040. What’s more, those vehicles would need to be powered by a fossil fuel-free grid. But replacing the vast majority of the nation’s roughly 280...

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