No surprise: Pickup trucks and oversized SUVs scored the lowest on the U.S. EPA’s latest ranking of vehicles based on tailpipe emissions. The list graded vehicles on a scale of 0 to 10. Large SUVs like BMW’s X5 and General Motors’ Hummer H2 earned a 0 and a 2, respectively, while most small and medium SUVs earned between 2s and 5s; cars were more likely to fall in the 6 to 7 range. The SUVs and light trucks on the list emitted anywhere from two to 10 times the pollutants of an average Honda Civic. (Honda’s cars ranked high on the scale overall.) Carmakers defended their Brobdingnagian vehicles by noting that even the worst polluters are an improvement over vehicles from years past, but environmentalists say more can and should be done to clean up tailpipe emissions.
