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Air Program Environment Now's Air Program has two key goals:
Although the Los Angeles region has made great strides
in the fight against smog over the past half-century, we are starting
to see a
reversal in this trend towards cleaner skies. Air pollution - especially
in the inland areas of the region - is increasing due primarily
to runaway growth.
In the face of this increase, Environment Now is more committed than ever to restoring healthy air quality in the region through advocacy and, as necessary, litigation. Our effort focuses on controlling diesel exhaust - a prime cause of air pollution and a recognized carcinogen. In our fight to attain our clean air goals, we have collaborated with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the Coalition for Clean Air in the Dump Dirty Diesel Campaign. This work focuses on advocacy for clean, alternative fuels, i.e., non-petroleum based fuels, as well as for retrofitted pollution control devices on older diesel engines. When advocacy fails, the partnership does not hesitate to use litigation to bring change. Such litigation is often aimed at diesel "hotspots" - facilities that generate inordinate amounts of diesel pollution. The campaign has achieved several notable successes since being launched seven years ago including work to reduce diesel pollution at the Port of Los Angeles and at major supermarket distribution centers. Last year our work overcame a setback dealt by the U.S. Supreme Court, and we are still working to overcome a second US Supreme Court setback. The first Supreme Court decision allows Mexican trucks to operate in the United States without meeting federal or state emission standards. In California, this decision was overcome late last year when the state passed a law requiring Mexican trucks operating here to meet federal emission standards. The second decision affects the South Coast Air Management District rules requiring public diesel fleet operators to start integrating alternative fuel vehicles into their fleets. The court ruled the district had overextended its jurisdiction in setting these rules and handed the case back to the lower court for further adjudication. A forthcoming hearing may result in several of the six fleet rules being allowed to stand. The California Environmental Protection Agency in the meantime is also considering adoption of similar fleet rules. Recent Port Work In other port matters, the Port of Los Angeles’ No-Net-Increase Task Force recently adopted 68 preliminary control measures to achieve a “no net increase” in air emissions above those recorded in the base year of 2001. These measures include, among others, using shore power for berthed ships (rather than their polluting diesel engines), using cleaner fuel for ships and locomotives, and moving to diesel electric hybrid switcher engines at port rail yards. Work remains to get these measures implemented and to get the Port of Long Beach to develop similar control measures. NRDC has also filed a suit against the Port of Stockton over a proposed expansion that will triple the size of the port and significantly increase ship visits as well as increasing ground traffic by more than 9,000 diesel trucks per day. In its plans for this expansion, the port made no effort to include any diesel mitigation measures to protect workers and neighboring residents.
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