The Illinois Climate Action Network -- Illinois CAN -- a new broad-based coalition of environmental, conservation and faith organizations aimed at combating global warming, debuted April 1 with a Springfield press conference calling for clean cars legislation.

The Illinois Clean Cars Act (HB 3424 / SB 2238) would significantly benefit both the environment and the health of the state’s residents. Modeled after California’s Pavley Law and similar laws in a dozen other states, the Act sets standards requiring automakers to increasingly reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions produced by cars and light trucks on a fleet-wide average basis between 2009 and 2020. It is also a key component of a five-point bill proposed by Illinois CAN that includes a cap-and-trade policy, low carbon fuel standards, energy efficient furnace requirements and a statewide energy efficient building code.

Under the Pavley standards, it is estimated that total global warming pollution generated by passenger vehicles between 2009 and 2020 would be 45 percent less than under the new federal Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) program that raises miles per gallon for new cars by 2020.

Illinois CAN member groups have been working for more than a year with legislators, including bill sponsors State Rep. Karen May and State Senator Terry Link, to craft the Illinois Clean Cars Act. The legislation has been co-sponsored by 22 state representatives and 14 state senators.

Cleaner cars would mean better health for Illinois residents, who suffer one of the highest asthma death rates in the country, according to a new study authored by the Environmental Law and Policy Center, an Illinois CAN member, with Cambridge Systematics.

Their report, Breathing Free in Illinois: Reducing Air Pollution and Improving Health through Cleaner Cars, shows that the standards in the Illinois Clean Cars Act would reduce critical air pollutants each year by as much as 16 percent and air toxics by up to 21 percent by the year 2030. These improvements would annually prevent up to 250,000 lost school days and about 11 percent fewer premature deaths by 2030, according to the study.

Clean cars would yield a variety of economic benefits as well. Healthcare costs would drop, and Illinois drivers would save about $6 billion by 2030 at $3/gallon of gas, savings which would be spent in other sectors of Illinois’ economy. In addition, the state’s ethanol industry would get a boost as alternative fuel vehicles become a key tool for automakers to meet clean car standards.

The mission of the Illinois Climate Action Network is to advocate for the policies necessary in Illinois to reduce global warming pollution to 1990 levels by 2020 and 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. Illinois CAN steering committee members are: CNT Energy, Environment Illinois, Environmental Law and Policy Center, Faith in Place, Illinois Environmental Council, Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance, Natural Resources Defense Council, Respiratory Health Association of Metropolitan Chicago, Sierra Club, Protestants for the Common Good, The Nature Conservancy, Union of Concerned Scientists.

For more information about Illinois CAN, visit www.illinoisclimateactionnetwork.org. To learn about the Illinois Clean Cars Act, visit www.ilcleancars.org.