Clean Air For The Long Haul welcomes Biden administration and EPA’s newly proposed federal emissions standards for light-duty vehicles and new heavy-duty trucks
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 18, 2023
Contact: Christina Santi, christina.santi@abpartners.co
WASHINGTON – On April 12, 2023, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed rigorous new tailpipe emissions rules governing carbon dioxide, smog-forming nitrogen oxide, and other pollution for passenger vehicles and heavy-duty trucks manufactured between 2027 and 2032.
If fully implemented, the new rules would ensure nearly two-thirds of new light-duty vehicles and a quarter of heavy-duty trucks sold in the United States are all-electric by 2032, the most stringent car and truck pollution limits in the world. The national Clean Air For The Long Haul coalition welcomes the EPA for the far-reaching climate, public health, and environmental justice implications of these proposed standards. The coalition expects the administration to implement the changes effectively and remains steadfast in enforcing the proposed standards for new light- and medium-duty and new heavy-duty vehicles.
“Transportation emissions are fanning the flames of a climate crisis that’s flooding our homes and heating up our neighborhoods,” said Huda Alkaff, Founder and Director of Wisconsin Green Muslims. “These new proposed rules can save lives, and save working people money by getting affordable, equitable, cleaner electric cars, school buses, and trucks on the roads faster, with pollution-free renewable energy-based charging infrastructure to match.”
“From the disproportionately high rates of asthma, cognitive impairment, heart disease and dementia caused by the highways, bridges, warehouses and waste transfer facilities that strangle and slice the community, the impacts of vehicle pollution here in the South Bronx have been devastating,” said Arif Ullah, Executive Director of South Bronx Unite. “Stricter emission standards on cars and trucks will finally allow communities that have borne the brunt of the fossil fuel economy to literally breathe easier, and live longer.”
“Getting clean, zero emissions cars and trucks on the road faster will save tens of thousands of lives, especially in communities like ours in the Deep South with low income and people of color who live along busy highways, ports, shipping routes and depots. These new standards will significantly reduce pollution that has devastated our communities for decades,” said Dr. Beverly Wright, Founder & Executive Director, Deep South Center for Environmental Justice.
Both the proposed standards will also impose limits on car pollution crucial to the US meeting its Paris Climate Agreement commitment of slashing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50% from 2005 levels by the end of the decade. Environmental justice communities, who experience the first and worst impacts of the climate crisis, should benefit the most from stricter standards.
While we welcome these proposals, the Clean Air For The Long Haul hopes that the EPA moves to quickly finalize stronger vehicle standards and follow through with their implementation and enforcement to ensure that communities overburdened by transportation pollution and adversely impacted by climate change are protected.
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Clean Air For The Long Haul, a nationwide coalition of environmental justice groups, coordinates federal rulemaking campaigns, centering overburdened communities, to reduce air pollution from power plants, cars, and trucks. The coalition seeks to catalyze the environmental justice movement through federal emissions reductions targeting United States power and transportation sectors. Coalition member organizations include: Alternatives for Community and Environment, Clear Air NOW, Coalition of Community Organizations, Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, Duwamish River Community Coalition, GreenDoor Initiative, New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance, South Bronx Unite, Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services, WE ACT for Environmental Justice, West End Revitalization Association, and Wisconsin Green Muslims.