Ah yes. This is your typical rich baby, liberal, must happen now attitude. ALL industries are cleaning up our country already! The air we breath, the water we drink, our rivers and lakes, the ground we walk on, this whole country IS a cleaner place to live.
I just cant believe that with your level of intelligence you cannot fathom the idea that it took more then 100 years to "dirty" our country, and yet you think it should have been cleaned up yesterday! We, as a country, have made giant leaps in the reversal of pollution. But all comes in good time.
I do not, and never will, drive a brain wave distorting Prius! I drive a CHEVY 3/4 ton DIESEL pickup. I will tell you this though. When I bought my DIESEL, it got 23 mpg. Then Chevy did an EPA update to my trucks computer and my mpg went to 17 mpg. YEA EPA! The morons think that if my truck burns MORE diesel that it is better for our environment.
So all you tree hugging fools who think that throwing BILLIONS and TRILLIONS of dollars away on an overnight fix that is NOT coming.....DREAM ON!

She deletes everything that does not fit her liberal agenda. That is the liberal style. Pitiful.

Kudos to the truck owners who have already started the process of cleaning up their vehicle fleets - they will be healthier and live longer lives as a result. To those that question the value of these rules, you only need to look at the many studies - yes many scientific studies - that prove the correlation between PM/diesel pollution and premature death. No one wants the trucking industry to go out of business. But this can't be a trade off between the economy and the environment. It is about both: preserving the industry while protecting our environment.

I grew up in the San Gabriel Valley in Southern California fifty years ago and remember the frequent smog alerts when we couldn’t see the mountains, a mere two miles away. Walking home from school, I would wheeze and my lungs would burn. That was before California banned lead in gasoline. Now the skies in Southern California are measurably cleaner. New regulations adopted for the benefit of everyone are initially met with anger and understandable fear by those who must adapt to a new way of doing business. Therefore, I admire the courage and foresight of the owners of Devine Intermodal who supported strengthening the diesel rule at last week’s hearing. I thank the truckers who have voluntarily cleaned up their fleets. They show that we all breathe the same air and that we’re all in this together.

California has the worst air quality largely due to diesel pollution. CARB’s role is to clean it up. We share in the disappointment over the weakening of California's cornerstone diesel clean up regulations.

Cleaning up diesel trucks and equipment is essential to reducing the prevalence of diesel soot and the sky-high asthma rates that accompany pollution in so many communities across California. And cleaning up California’s older, dirty diesels is a good investment that is estimated to yield $13 in health savings for every dollar invested, erasing the plumes of black soot that clog our lungs and skies.

We cannot waiver in our commitment to protect public health. We need to work together to support the clean vehicle industry in California and the hundreds of green jobs that it creates; and provide real relief from the suffocating pollution that so many California communities are saddled with.
-Diane Bailey
Natural Resources Defense Council

There is no doubt that the trucking and construction industries, which we as a society rely on, have suffered greatly from this recession. Jobs have been lost and trucks repossessed. Families are uncertain about their future;living day to day hoping to get more work. Unfortunately this is the situation for millions of hard working Americans, not just those in the trucking and construction industry.

Even though huge strides have been made by Californians to better our air, we still lead the nation in toxic air. The San Joaquin Valley has the worst air quality in the USA. Furthermore, there is no doubt that diesel trucks and equipment are a major source of emissions which form ozone (a gas that burns your tissue as you inhale), particulate matter (fine particulates which are coated in cancer causing substances which penetrate your lungs, arteries and cells) amongst others.

Lest us not forget about the people suffering from asthma, bronchitis, heart and lung disease and cancer. If you have ever seen a child hooked up to a machine just to breath, then you know something needs to be done. When you have to see your grandmother loose her independence because she can't go outside, then you know things can't continue the same. A lot of great people have left the Valley so that they don't have to worry about their next asthma attack. Fresno, California, where I call home, has the worst area for concentrated poverty in the nation.Some families have been fortunate enough to keep their health insurance, but the thousands of others are left with no safety net should they become ill. Chronic conditions caused by poor air quality can bankrupt people through no fault of their own.

On a larger level, air quality related health problems already cost billions in lost productivity, missed school days and health costs. All this to say there is a balance. As it stands, the costs to the industries are less than the amount we are subsidizing with our health and quality of life. For these reasons I agree with the author in that it was a sad day for millions of people struggling to breath.

PS. This is a comment on a blog, the statements made are easily verifiable, and therefore I didn't feel the need to cite.

It is a well known, well substantiated fact that diesel pollution is very toxic. The particulate matter emitted by burning diesel fuel is particularly toxic so it is welcome that CA has moved forward with clean air regulations. A simple statistic: 87 percent of air toxins in the South Coast region are from diesel emissions.

There are certainly some extremely responsible people in the industry who have moved forward with buying new and upgraded equipment to clean the air. These folks should absolutely be applauded; however, there are also many who would rather focus solely on their bottom line than the interest of public health. These regulations level the playing field for both helping to ensure that those who are rapidly adopting cleaner technologies are not put at a competitive disadvantage.

While the wisdom of what CARB has done with its changes to the regulations is very much a worthwhile debate there should be no doubt of the major impacts that diesel pollution has on our public health. It's important that CA continue to move forward with cleaning its air and laying the foundation of future economic prosperity.

As a child growing up in the San Gabriel Valley of Southern California fifty years ago, I remember the days of lead in gasoline and the many extreme days of air pollution when we couldn't see the mountains just two miles from our house. A half-mile walk home from school would make me wheeze and cause my lungs to burn. Southern California's skies are much cleaner now, thanks to the rules that took lead out of gasoline. Every new rule that benefits all of us begins with understandable anger and fear of future livelihood by those who will be regulated. I admire the courage and generosity of the owners of Devine Intermodal who spoke in favor of strengthening the diesel rule at last week's hearing and the other truckers who are making sacrifices to clean up their fleets ahead of schedule. They are helping provide a cleaner future for all of us. They remind us that we're all in this together.

We share your deep disappointment over the rollbacks to California's cornerstone clean air measures to clean up diesel trucks and equipment. The Air Resources Board, no doubt, had a very tough job balancing the need for economic relief with the pressing public health concerns.

Hundreds of thousands of Californians live within one quarter mile of a major freeway carrying diesel trucks. These communities that are most impacted by diesel pollution have a greater percentage of minority and low income families than other areas, which raises some serious environmental and social justice concerns. It is of paramount importance to offer these areas immediate relief from the severe pollution levels that they experience.

Cleaning up California’s older, dirty diesels is a good investment in these communities. It is estimated to yield $13 in health savings for every dollar invested, erasing the plumes of black soot that clog lungs and skies. We need to work together to speed the clean up of diesel pollution in impacted areas and support the green industry that can deliever clean vehicles.

-Diane Bailey,
Natural Resources Defense Council

I feel sorry for you. The fact that you have not had the opportunity to interact with the industries that you are blaming for "thousands of deaths" goes to show your lack of knowledge of the industry. We have invested thousands of dollars to "clean up" our emissions! My wife and I own a one truck/trailer combination and in the last 6 years have invested $50,000 in clean technologies, such as trailer skirts, engine emission controls, APU's, low rolling resistance tires etc. If I include the monetary costs of maintaining our 2008 truck (plus lost revenue due to downtime for major engine repairs) our costs have exceeded $150,000. Our operation has been held up as a standard for our industry to equal or exceed. We have been written about in 7 different magazines plus on the Governement of Alberta's "trucks of tomorrow" website.

(www.trucksoftomorrow.com/pages/trucking/cases-decker.php)

Without the trucks, our standard of living would be no better than the cave man of 4000 years ago. Trucks allow products to be produced at the lowest possible cost, anywhere in the world, then transported to the consumer. Have you purchased a blu-ray player lately? The original cost of them used to be $1000 or more, now you can get one for less than $100. WHY is that? The cost effectiveness of the transportation industry allowed the manufacturer to concentrate their manufacturing in one location instead of having multiple factories close to the consumer. When a product can be built at a low cost our standard of living increases as we need less money to increase our material wealth than our parents and grandparents did. This is the marketplace that we live in. If you do not agree with the sentiment that everyone in the world deserves to increase their standard of living I once again feel sorry for you.

It is truly a sad time when opinions magically become facts. I would love to debate you on Evan Lockridge's show on SiriusXM satellite radio. I am sure that Evan would be honored to have your opinion's stated and debated to his thousands of listeners. I will politely wait for yor reply.

Yours Sincerely,

Greg Decker
Triple Decker Transport Ltd.
Airdrie AB

PS We have also invested $15,000 in our home to decrease our emissions and water consumption. How much money have you invested in decreasing YOUR enviromental footprint?

Evan I have to respectfully disagree with your apples to oranges comparison. It more like apples to onions.

The author of this article has no clue of what she is talking about regardless of whether she leans left or right. She has not provided one shred of evidence to match her claims.

She also did not mention the the CARB report the law was based on in the first place was flawed

Reference: http://www.acsh.org/factsfears/newsID.2169/news_detail.asp
The California Air Resources Board (CARB), part of the California Environmental Protection Agency, approved regulations in July 2007 and December 2008 on diesel vehicles that will limit emissions for trucks, buses, bulldozers, backhoes and other construction equipment. But according to a June op-ed in Forbes.com by Dr. Henry Miller, a Hoover Institution fellow, and ACSH Trustee Dr. James Enstrom, an epidemiologist and physicist at the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, the scientific rationale for these expensive regulations is dubious and will impose a huge economic burden on the state.

And this is why CARB backed down, they had no science to support the regulation.

People need to get their facts straight and do some research be for spouting off. Seems to be an equal affliction for both Liberals and Conservatives. And many of the untrained bloggers claiming to be journalists.

Tim Brady
Business Editor
Write Up The Road Publishing & Media

Cars outnumber heavy trucks many times over, but trucks are the significant polluters? That's funny. California has some of the most draconian smog laws in the country and they STILL have the worst smog. So the solution is to do more of what hasn't worked before? That would be hilarious if it weren't such a sad commentary on the state of California in specific and the nation in general.

How's that Big Brother government workin' out for ya?

Please show me one death certificate that shows that the person died of diesel pollution.

"California has some of the worst-polluted air in the nation, and the many big rigs and pieces of heavy construction equipment that operate here are the main culprits. Diesel pollution kills thousands of Californians every year,"

I've been to California. I've seen the pollution. I've also seen the thounsands of cars idling in traffic with only one person in them sitting in traffic. I've seen the older model cars puffing out smoke. Where is your proof that diesel engine exhaust kill thousands of people? Is it an assumption? Have you not investigated diesel technologies which have proven to be cleaner than those on cars? Yes I'm a OTR driver. I drive a 2010 Cascadia. The emission control devices on this truck are literally scrubbing the air I drive through. What exhaust technologies are being pushed onto car owners of California? I suggest californians take responsibility for a problem californians created. Saying this problem is the fault of trucking is in my opinion slander of a very important industry. An industry which if it didn't exist, you'd be without all those goodies you've come to love. No trucks means no cars, no gas, no clothes in the store, no food in the store. No trash disposal, no parts for repairs, no trees. Yes, I said no trees. Name one thing you need to live that didn't at some point involve a truck and I'll happily go about my day without another thought of you.

You obviously have no understanding of how trucking works, including how small, even single-person operations have been affected by the economic downturn and if forced to make some upgrades now, would literally go out of business. These small companies make up a majority of the trucking industry and are its backbone. Two, comparing this situation to car-makers in the 1970s is like comparing apples to oranges. Third, you make no mention that rules you are referring to, will kick in a little later that originally set and in some cases will be tougher that originally planned.

Evan Lockridge
Sirius XM Satellite Radio
Host--The Lockridge Report
Anchor--Sirius-XM Trucking News
Road Dog Trucking
Sirius 147/XM 171