The State of California has proven that simple measures using current technology at transportation hubs can dramatically cut the amount of deadly diesel exhaust air pollution imposed on workers and neighboring communities.
In Oakland, diesel truck retrofit/replacement rules drove black carbon down by over 75 percent, and nitrogen oxides by over half. Both have serious health impacts, and black carbon is a huge contributor to global warming, second only to CO2.
These public health protections can be put in place in any states and localities that have the public will, and can be implemented unilaterally by owners of private facilities, such as intermodal rail yards and logistics facilities.
While truck retrofits don’t reduce pollution as much as truck replacements, and neither are sufficient to eliminate the health impacts of diesel exhaust or get to zero emissions, they are a good interim measure, and far more than is being done in most places in the U.S.
Learn more about the emissions control technology, the regulations, and the impacts at the California Air Resources Board seminar to be held in Sacramento tomorrow, Thursday June 18 at 1:30 PDT, or online by webcast.
For more information on the California Air Resources Board study, please see:
CARB Study Shows Truck Fleet Cleanup Successes at Port of Oakland, Trucking News Online
CARB Abstract with link to Research Study
To find out more about the seminar, and join the webcast, visit the ARB Seminar page.
For more information about Diesel exhaust health effects and mitigation, black carbon, or related topics, please visit the MFN Diesel Exhaust Collection.