US and German Regulations of CO₂ Emissions from Passenger Cars

Global air pollution, especially through the burning of fossil fuels, has reached a state of urgency that very soon will not be bearable anymore for the planet. CO₂ emissions from passenger vehicles are a major contributing factor to this. A variety of regulations exist to control CO₂ emissions, but nations do not share a common goal, a uniform standard. This paper seeks to give an insight into the problem of non-uniform environmental regulations throughout the world. Through the use of primary and secondary sources, it will provide a qualitative case study of CO₂ emission regulations for passenger vehicles in Germany and the United States. In the context of an increasingly globalized world, policy recommendations, which will help in harmonizing regulations for all countries, are obtained. These recommendations include incorporating emission standards into the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, attaching a yet greater importance to environmental education and generating homogeneous standards within the automotive sector.