Obama’s new petrol pollution rules – will Australia follow?

America’s Environmental Protection Agency has announced new rules that will require oil refiners to reduce the amount of sulphur in gasoline. The rules require oil refineries, beginning in 2017, to produce petrol with just 10-parts-per-million of sulphur. That;s a reduction of two-thirds on existing limits.
USA Today reports that advocates, including environmentalists, public health officials and automakers, welcomed the news, but the U.S. oil industry said the rules will increase its costs and gasoline prices. ”These standards are a win for public health, a win for our environment and a win for our pocketbooks,” EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy said in the announcement. Her agency estimates they will help avoid up to 2,000 premature deaths each year and 50,000 cases of respiratory ailments in children, saving $6.7 billion to $19 billion annually in health care costs. Once fully implemented in 2025, it says they’ll add $72 to a car’s sticker price and two-thirds of a penny to per-gallon gasoline costs.
In Australia regulations allow 50ppm of sulphur in petrol.

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