How effective has Ontario's Drive Clean program been in reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the province?

 On April 1st, 1999 Toronto and Hamilton implemented the Drive Clean program. In January 2001, the program extended from Windsor to Peterborough. In 2005, Drive clean tightened the standard by 11.5% and exempted hybrid vehicles from the test. In 2011, new car exemptions went from 5 years to 7 years. In 2013, Ontario introduced a better diagnostic test. From 1999-2012, Drive Clean has reduced the total amount of smog-causing emissions from light-duty vehicles: hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides. Drive clean reduced a third of smog-causing emissions, 3.8 million tonnes of carbon monoxide emissions, and 327,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide in a steady decrease. In 2011 and 2012, 31 to 39 percent of expected emissions were not made because many vehicles failed their emissions tests, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 16,700 tonnes in 2011 and 14,200 tonnes in 2012. This test saves drivers money from gas-guzzling vehicles with incentives to repair their vehicle parts. In 2011, non-diesel heavy-duty vehicles' fail rate was 10% and in 2012 the fail rate was 9%. In 2017 5% failed the test compared to 16% in 1999. Effective April 1st, 2019, Ontario no longer has a Drive Clean program to save taxpayers more than $40 million per year and the carbon tax was implemented on the same day. Since Doug Ford has become Ontario’s Premier, Ontario's annual gas emissions have increased for the first time since 2010.

CBC/Radio Canada. (2020, December 3). Ontario's carbon emissions went up during Doug Ford's first year as premier | CBC News. CBCnews. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-greenhouse-gas-emissions-report-environmental-defence-1.5825851

Drive Clean Emissions Report: light-duty vehicles and non-diesel heavy-duty vehicles, 2011 and 2012. ontario.ca. (n.d.). https://www.ontario.ca/page/drive-clean-emissions-report-light-duty-vehicles-and-non-diesel-heavy-duty-vehicles-2011-and-2012#:~:text=The%20Drive%20Clean%20program%20reduced,as%20identified%20in%20Table%202

Newport, A. (2019, April 2). The Drive Clean Test Has Officially Been Eliminated in Ontario. insauga.com. https://www.insauga.com/the-drive-clean-test-has-officially-been-eliminated-in-ontario

Ontario Newsroom. (n.d.). https://news.ontario.ca/en/backgrounder/50114/drive-clean-program-redesign

Updates to the Ontario drive clean program. Updates to the Ontario drive clean program - CAA South Central Ontario. (2019, April 24). https://www.caasco.com/blog/Automotive/updates-to-the-ontario-drive-clean-program.