Comment Log Display

 In-Use Diesel Truck Rule

“Monika, honey, five more minutes, then I want you and your
friends to come inside.”
“Five minutes, why Dad?  We want to stay outside.”
“The day, sweetheart…it just isn’t good to be outside.”
“Why, Daddy, we want to play on the swing set!”
“It’s….well… the air….it’s not a great day.  Let’s do an art
project.”
“NO, Dad!  I hate you!  We’re staying outside!”  

Painful arguments persist throughout the Sierra Foothills during
the hot summer months between concerned parents and their children.
 The Ozone levels rise to unsafe parameters and parents start
negotiating, and then forcing their children to retreat to the
relative safety of indoors.

Nevada County is a beautiful, amazing place to live and raise your
children.  Nestled in the Sierra Nevada Foothills, we escape urban
congestion and rest in the solitude of these sacred hills.  One
persistent problem, however, is air pollution.  According to EPA
rankings, elevated Ozone levels during the hot summer month’s ranks
our county as tied for the 10th worst in the entire nation.  One in
six kids have been diagnosed with asthma, a rate higher than the
overall California average.

And every fall, we brace ourselves for questions about whether it
is wise to continue living here.  Last September, two friends, both
medical doctors, chose to leave because their twin 4 year-old
daughters were showing signs of pulmonary distress.  After
consulting a pediatric pulmonologist at Stanford, they decided the
risk of staying outweighed the comforts of the hills.  My heart
sank.  My wife and I also have two small children of similar ages,
so how could we stay when two doctors have chosen to leave.

In short, we love our lives here and cherish our community of
friends.  For now, we have decided that if we can travel every
summer for up to eight weeks with those young, developing lungs,
maybe we can make it work.  It means extra expense, separation from
family and friends due to work obligations, and a pretty dramatic
disruption of our lives. 

After deciding to stay, I got heavily involved with a local
organization called Save the Air in Nevada County (STAinNC).  We
are seeking to educate the public about the air quality problems
and join the forces advocating for clean air solutions within our
region and the entire state.

One very important clean air solution is coming before the Board
at the California Air Resources Board (CARB), the in-use Diesel
Truck Rule.  This rule concerns the 1.1 million heavy-duty and
medium-duty diesel trucks, which operate within California
regularly, driving approximately 47 million miles per day.  

Diesel truck pollution accounts for 40% of the Particulate Matter
and up to 50% of the Nitrous Oxide (a key ingredient in formulating
ground-level Ozone) pollution in California, which costs
approximately $28 billion dollars annually from hospitalizations
for respiratory and cardiovascular ailments, asthma treatments,
lost work days and school absences.  In 2008, an estimated 4,800
premature deaths will occur, which are directly linked to diesel
truck pollution!

The rule would first phase in particulate matter filters for all
appropriate diesel trucks, then require owners to repower or
retrofit trucks to reduce NOx emissions over a ten year period
between 2013 and 2023.  Grants and loans will be available to help
trucking companies with expenses.  All Californians must willingly
share the costs of this rule, which is vitally important to the
health of our communities.   

When fuel burns, lungs suffer.  The cost of driving trucks and
vehicles is far more than the original purchase price, fuel costs,
maintenance, and insurance.  Our children, the elderly, athletes
and all outside workers suffer.  Our population and our lifestyles
have reached a point where avoiding all related consequences is no
longer possible.  Now, we must pay the true costs of transporting
and receiving goods, by cleaning up the diesel truck industry.

By Ed Welch, a Board member of Save the Air in Nevada County lives
in Sierra Foothills with his wife and two daughters.