STATE GOALS FOR CLEANER AIR AREN’T LIKELY TO BE MET
Imagine if the air you breathe was slowly poisoning you. For generations, residents in Barrio Logan, Logan Heights and National City have breathed some of the most diesel-polluted air in California and the contaminated air residents breathe can make their health conditions worse. Diesel pollution can cause chronic heart and lung disease, asthma, cancer and other health issues.
Lives are at risk from excessive diesel pollution. California has ambitious policies and has allocated billions of dollars to reduce fossil fuels, but it may not be enough. Local governments need to leverage state action to combat the damage diesel emissions are doing to our health and planet. Many have already taken the positive steps, but much more must be done.
Traditional modes of transportation powered by fossil fuels are the largest contributors to climate change in the nation and California. Medium and heavy-duty trucks, many of which run on diesel, are responsible for nearly a quarter of the climate pollutants generated by the nation’s transportation sector. Heavyduty trucks are also the secondhighest source of diesel pollution in San Diego’s portside communities.
The negative health impacts associated with diesel emissions are magnified in these low-income communities of color. Due to their proximity to freeways, ports and industry, these communities breathe in more diesel fumes than the majority of Californians. Children in Barrio Logan and National City have more than double the rate of asthma emergency room visits than San Diego County as a whole. Diesel emissions cause 84 percent of the cancer risk from air pollution in these neighborhoods, and residents have a higher risk of developing cancer from air toxins than 93 percent of the nation.
California’s leadership understands the harm heavy-duty diesel trucks are causing our health and planet. In 2020, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order to transition many of California’s cars and trucks to zero emission vehicles by 2035. In his recent budget proposal, the governor allocated funds to accelerate the transition to zero emission vehicles with a focus on the most impacted communities. He is proposing $10 billion over the next six years to decarbonize the state and improve public health. This includes funds for the electrification of ports, heavy-duty trucks and buses.
Despite this, California is behind, and it is unlikely we will meet, our emission reduction goals. A 2021 report by the California State Auditor’s Office found that emissions from transportation have actually increased since 2013. This means that the state will likely fall short of meeting our 2030 goal of a 40 percent reduction in greenhouse gases (GHGs) from 1990 levels. Another study revealed that on average, the state decreased GHG emissions by 1.3 percent per year, far below what is needed to meet our GHG goals.
With the seventh-worst air quality for ozone in the nation, San Diegans, especially portside residents, can’t rely exclusively on the state. Local governments must step up and leverage state actions and available funding. Some already have.
In late 2021, the Port of San Diego adopted the Maritime Clean Air Strategy, which will transition 100 percent of the heavy-duty trucks servicing the port to zero emission vehicles by 2030 — five years ahead of the state requirement. The San Diego Air Pollution Control District adopted a Community Emission Reduction Plan with ambitious heavy-duty zero emission vehicles goals, and it plans to develop new rules to regulate facilities like warehouses and ports that heavy-duty trucks service. The San Diego Association of Governments, the city of San Diego and the Environmental Health Coalition I co-founded are partnering on “Delivering Zero Emissions Communities,” a program to advance the region’s transition to zero emission vehicles faster than the state requires.
These visionary zero emission vehicles goals and strategies are critical to resolving the public health crisis in environmental justice communities adjacent to the Port of San Diego. The Environmental Health Coalition is hopeful that these policies serve as models for other impacted communities throughout the state, such as border communities where thousands of trucks cross from Baja California to San Diego every week.
With these policies, San Diego is well-positioned to access the windfall of state funds the governor dedicated to transitioning transportation away from fossil fuels.
Our communities are counting on state and local government to deliver on their promises of clean air.
This is not the time to backtrack. Our health and our planet are depending on it.
Local governments must step up and leverage state actions and available funding.