A study by the American Lung Association has found something significant. If the United States fully embraces electric transportation and clean energy solutions, the country could save over $1 trillion in public health benefits by 2050.
The new study analyzes the impact of a change in the United States’ transpiration and energy sectors and how it affects public health. According to the study’s findings, a nationwide shift to 100% sales of zero-emission passenger cars by 2035 and medium- and heavy-duty trucks like the Tesla Semi by 2040—coupled with widespread adoption of renewable energy solutions like Tesla Megapacks—would result in over 1 $.2 trillion in public health benefits between 2020 and 2050.
Those benefits would come in the form of up to 110,000 premature deaths, nearly 3 million asthma attacks and over 13 million workdays lost due to cleaner air, according to the American Lung Association. More importantly, the study also concluded that a serious shift to electric vehicles and clean energy production in the United States would result in over $1.7 trillion in avoided global climate damage.
The numbers highlighted in the American Lung Association’s new study are revealing and provide a glimpse into the future of the United States with a clean grid and clean vehicles. Achieving them is, of course, another matter altogether, as the savings cited in the study would commit the country to selling only electric vehicles in the passenger and heavy-duty segments by 2040. These e-vehicles would have to run on a fossil-free grid as well.
Despite the moonshot nature of the study’s findings, health advocates have noted that the scenario presented in the study should be a serious goal. Afif El-Hasan, a pediatrician and American Lung Association volunteer, highlighted this during a press briefing.
“I can advise my patients to limit their time outdoors to limit the pollution they breathe in. I can’t make sure they have clean, healthy air to breathe and that’s incredibly frustrating for me. Every child should have the right to play and develop in a safe place. That should never be up for debate,” El-Hasan said.
Luckily for the United States, efforts are being made to push cleaner modes of transportation. US President Joe Biden has emerged as a proponent of electric vehicles, despite his reluctance to acknowledge Tesla’s achievements. Tesla, the world’s leading manufacturer of electric vehicles, also plans to deliver 20 million of its zero-emission vehicles worldwide by 2030. Such a number of clean vehicles entering the market should help the United States push even further for clean transportation.
The new American Lung Association study can be accessed below.
Focus on the Healthy Air report by Simon Alvarez on Scribd
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A switch to electric vehicles like Tesla could save the US healthcare system $1.2 trillion by 2050
