Read the Letter to the California Air Resources Board
(Sacramento, CA, December 9, 2008) -- The proposed statewide truck and bus rule, which the California Air Resources Board (CARB) will vote on this Friday, December 12, will save more than 9,400 lives and cut billions of dollars in health care-related costs each year for Californians.
Truckers, who are at least twice as likely to contract cancer as other Californians, will experience tremendous health benefits from the rule. The American Lung Association of California applauds the California Air Resources Board (CARB) for its leadership in developing this lifesaving measure and urges the board to approve the measure this Friday.
Diesel soot from trucks and buses is the number one source of toxic diesel pollution in California. "Truck and bus pollution is already responsible for thousands of public health emergencies and premature deaths every year. This is an enormous public health burden that is especially hard to shoulder in these difficult economic times," said Bonnie Holmes-Gen, senior policy director for the American Lung Association of California.
Diesel truck pollution has been estimated to account for 70 percent of the cancer risk from the air we breathe, and is responsible each year for about 4,500 deaths; 620 hospital admissions for heart disease; 71,000 cases of asthma and lower respiratory symptoms; and 450,000 lost workdays, according to CARB. This health burden is especially burdensome for vulnerable individuals such as children and the elderly, and in low-income communities which are most impacted by multiple sources of pollution. Air pollution results in about $28 billion in health-related costs in the San Joaquin Valley and Los Angeles region combined each year, according to a recent economic study conducted by economists at California State University, Fullerton.
Trucking interests are trying to stop the rule by claiming it is too costly for business. However, the economic benefits of the regulation, estimated at $48 - $68 billion including reduced premature deaths and health care costs, far outweigh the projected economic costs of under $6 billion. "The projected cost of the CARB truck regulation is only a small fraction of the overall benefits" said Holmes-Gen. “Furthermore, the benefits will improve the lives of millions of Californians.”
Substantial funding assistance is available to help truckers comply with the regulation. "The state is making $1 billion in incentive funding available to assist with compliance, especially for small trucking operations" said Holmes-Gen. "This is an unprecedented amount of funding and demonstrates the state's determination to make this rule work for everyone."
"Everyone who has asthma, chronic bronchitis or other chronic heart or lung illnesses should applaud this regulation," said Holmes-Gen.
