For decades, pollution from vehicles and the transportation sector has sickened California communities and swathed our cities in smog. The summer of 2024, however, could actually help us start to experience a better road ahead. Our state has made unprecedented, nation-leading efforts to cut emissions — and they’re working.
The transportation sector causes more planet-warming pollution than any other sector in the country. Additionally, particulate matter from vehicles causes or worsens massive health impacts such as asthma, cancer, and heart disease.
When it comes to trucks in particular, I see and feel the impacts first-hand. I live in the Inland Empire, a center for the warehouses and goods movement industry in the southern part of the state. Some people call communities like mine “diesel death zones” because the constant truck traffic is choking our air and putting our lives in danger. A recent study showed that the Inland Empire has the worst air quality in the entire nation. It measured only 54 “good air days” in all of 2023.
This is unacceptable. However, I’m encouraged to see that meaningful progress has begun.
Approved in 2021, California’s Advanced Clean Trucks regulation aims to slash pollution by increasing the number of clean trucks on California’s roadways—starting in 2024. As a result, this month it was revealed that in just one year, California has doubled its sales of new electric trucks, buses, and vans. One out of every six medium and heavy-duty vehicles sold in the state is now pollution-free. Our new standards are working ahead of schedule – and manufacturers like Ford and General Motors are ramping up their production of clean trucks. As companies continue to comply with these standards, our air will be safer to breathe.
California’s clean car policies are also paying off. The Zero Emission Vehicle standards and the subsequent Advanced Clean Cars II standards require automakers to sell increasing numbers of light-duty electric vehicles (EVs) in the state. That means it’s easier for consumers to find the EV of their choice. Additionally, California had in place for many years a rebate that shaved thousands off the upfront cost of EVs. Thus, it’s no surprise that more than a quarter of new cars in California are electric, and we’ve created a booming used market for clean cars –making them available to a huge swath of people across income levels. As a result, air pollution is falling. Researchers from the University of California Berkeley recently found that between 2018 and 2022, CO2 emissions across the San Francisco Bay Area dropped about 1.8%, a decrease attributed to the rise in EVs.
We’re also making progress through the Warehouse Indirect Source Rule (ISR) passed by the South Coast Air Quality Management District after years of advocacy from impacted communities like mine seeking healthier air quality. Since being implemented in 2021, the rule has led to hefty fines for the biggest warehouse polluters who fail to comply with clean-up of their dirty trucks and facilities.
But of course we can’t stop here. Already, wildfire season is underway, and temperatures are rising this summer. The quicker we cut fossil fuel pollution from cars, trucks, gas plants, and other sources, the more we can safeguard our communities from extreme heat, storms, fires, and the nasty health impacts that come from fossil fuel pollution. Communities like mine are depending on California’s elected officials and agencies to continue to take bold action and build off of these successes.
Last year, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) adopted two additional transportation policies: the Advanced Clean Fleets and the In-Use Locomotive Rules. These standards represent a crucial step in cutting freight and rail pollution. However, in order to be implemented, legal waivers are required by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. It must act quickly.
California’s essential clean transportation standards and other policies to protect our climate and health are working. Let’s continue to accelerate.
