Protecting Rhode Island families from diesel pollution
Diesel Pollution Makes Rhode Islanders Sick.
Diesel exhaust contains very fine soot particles and air toxins and is released at the ground level - just where we breathe it in. These tiny particles are inhaled deep in the lungs, where they can trigger asthma and heart attacks and cause lung cancer.
School buses, trucks, construction and industrial equipment, locomotives and marine vessels are all sources of diesel pollution. Since these sources are concentrated in urban areas, people who live and work in cities are exposed to higher levels of risk from health impacts.
Rhode Island at Risk:
Providence County ranks within the worst six percent of all counties in the United States for health problems from diesel exhaust. The average lifetime cancer risk from diesel soot for Providence County residents is 330 times higher than the acceptable risk level.
Diesel pollution in Rhode Island threatens our health. Every year, diesel soot causes:
- 50 premature deaths
- 80 non-fatal heart attacks
- 900 asthma attacks
- 1,400 respiratory symptoms in children
- 5,500 missed days of work
Source: Clean Air Task Force, An Analysis of Diesel Air Pollution and Public Health in America (Feb. 2005).
The Solutions Are Available Today.
Beginning in 2007, federal standards will require new diesel engines to be 90% cleaner than they are today. But since these new standards only apply to new engines, older, dirtier diesels will be on Rhode Island's roads and at Rhode Island's job-sites for years to come, unless we act now.
Other Northeastern states, including Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey, are making reducing diesel emissions a top public health priority. Rhode Island should follow this lead and work to reduce diesel pollution in order to minimize exposure and health risks.
In 2006, we beat the special interests and passed the Anti-Idling Act to ban the unnecessary idling of diesel engines. The law also requires the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) to issue a report that identifies sources of diesel pollution and strategies for reducing pollution from these sources. The Anti-Idling Act represents the first step on a path towards cleaner, healthier air in Rhode Island. But we can do much more to reduce diesel pollution.
Legislative Solutions to Diesel Pollution:
Today we have the technology to reduce diesel pollution across Rhode Island by:
- Installing diesel particulate filters onto old dirty engines
- Replacing or rebuilding the diesel fleets that expose Rhode Islanders to the highest levels of pollution
The DEM study must create a roadmap for how Rhode Island can achieve a 75% reduction in diesel pollution by 2015. We have the technology to make this happen. Now we need the state plan and the political will to reduce diesel pollution 75% by 2015.
Support the Diesel Engine Emission Reduction Act.
This bill comprehensively reduces diesel pollution by:
- Setting a goal to reduce diesel emissions by 75% by 2015 (as Connecticut has done);
- Establishing priority fleets for diesel emission reductions (state construction projects, school buses and waste disposal vehicles); and
- Developing financing mechanisms to defray the costs of retrofitting diesel engines with pollution control technologies.
Take Action
Write a Letter to Your Legislator.
Use the sample letter below to help craft a letter to your state Representative or Senator. Please add a sentence about why preventing diesel pollution is important to you. Be sure to ask for a reply and include your full name and address.
Sample Letter:
Dear ________
Pollution from diesel engines is bad for our health and our environment. Rhode Islanders deserve clean air to breathe. Please protect Rhode Island families from unnecessary diesel pollution by supporting the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA). We have a duty to protect Rhode Island families from diesel pollution.
Sincerely,
Find your legislator at:
http://www.sec.state.ri.us/elections/findyourofficials/index.html
