California seeks to ban sales of diesel big rigs in a bold bid to cut pollution from their engines that is killing wildlife and creating an addiction to the power of natural gas and renewable sources.
The proposal, dubbed the “Green New Deal,” would ban new diesel fuel trucks from the country and use federal funds to restore waterways and upgrade wildlife refuges. It does not target gas-powered trucks on the road; instead, it targets new fuel trucks powered by diesel fuel.
The idea won’t be legally binding to states, but environmentalists say it is the most far-reaching solution ever to the nation’s energy needs. A similar measure that would ban gas-powered trucks was approved in California in 2016. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo also backs the ban, as does Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, who first introduced it as a proposal in the state Legislature last month.
“The U.S. is one of the biggest polluters on the planet,” said James Taylor, executive director of the Sierra Club in San Francisco. “It takes a lot of air pollution to drive something that travels an average of 1,600 miles a year – an average of three times a day.”
Eliminating diesel fuel from U.S. roads would save the planet $28 billion a year, Taylor said, and it would also cut US carbon emissions by 20 percent. The measure would also make the nation’s wildlife refuges cleaner.
“We really think that that’s a good solution for a lot of reasons,” Taylor said. “It cuts the emissions that have helped to make this such an incredible natural environment, such an amazing place to live. And then you use that as leverage in terms of what you can do to address the health impacts.”
The proposal faces an uphill battle. The National Wildlife Federation and other environmental groups oppose the ban and some Democrats are threatening to break the anti-Diesel Truck ban into two pieces if they get to choose to vote on it.
“They want to put a Band-Aid on something
