Iowa environmentalists often point to cars as the root of much pollution but a spokesman for the auto industry says today’s new vehicles are virtually emission-free. Eron Shosteck is spokesman for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers which is putting on the Quad Cities Auto Show, opening today (Friday) in Davenport.Shosteck says in many cases, the air coming out of the tailpipe is cleaner than the ambient air that goes in through the e air filter. He says these aren’t futuristic Jetsons-type cars or “concept” cars, these are the cars, trucks, minivans and SUVs now for sale at dealerships across Iowa. Shosteck says all new vehicles on the market now are 99-percent cleaner than they were 30-years ago. It’s not just the hybrid-electric cars that are becoming popular but the pure gasoline-powered internal combustion engines. Shosteck says the cars being driven around Iowa may be even cleaner than those elsewhere in the U.S., since so many Iowans pump corn-based ethanol into their tanks. He says ethanol is cleaner-burning than petroleum-based products, it provides a new market for Iowa farmers and helps reduce our dependence on foreign oil. Shosteck says ethanol also helps make vehicles get better fuel economy. He says the dramatic reduction in emissions from vehicles results from a four-part strategy that includes cleaning up the fuel going in to the vehicle, burning the fuel more precisely in the engine, removing undesirable emissions with a catalyst after the engine, and finally, monitoring all systems to make sure clean vehicles stay ultra-clean. He says more than 98-thousand Iowans work in the auto industry or in a job dependent on it, from trucking to mechanics to parts manufacturing.