Last Friday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced finalized Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standards for Heavy-Duty Vehicles, (Phase 3) for model years 2027 through 2032. Heavy-duty vehicles, including tractor trailers, delivery vans, and diesel-powered school buses, play an outsized role in generating unhealthy air in our neighborhoods and carbon pollution that fuels climate change. Heavy-duty vehicles are responsible for 25 percent of total transportation sector greenhouse gas emissions, despite accounting for less than 4 percent of vehicles on the road.
Medical research links traffic pollution to asthma, lung cancer, dementia, preterm birth, and other serious health harms. The finalized clean truck standards are estimated to reduce smog-forming nitrogen oxides by 53,000 tons in 2055 and cut one billion metric tons of climate pollution by 2055. These new safeguards are estimated to deliver $13 billion in total annual benefits and cost savings, including $300 million in average annual health benefits and $3.5 billion in average annual savings on fuel costs and maintenance savings for the trucking and transportation industry.
In response, Tori Goebel, National Organizer and Spokesperson for Young Evangelicals for Climate Action (YECA), released the following statement:
“This announcement from the EPA is hopeful news for the 72 million people living near heavy duty truck routes in the United States. The cost of inaction continues to be paid by already overburdened communities facing a host of challenges and harms, including deadly air pollution. It is time for the heavy-duty transportation industry to transform for the sake of our neighbors and God’s world, which is why we commend this step in the right direction.”
