Help Colorado clean up toxic truck pollution

Last year, the Environmental Protection Agency declared Denver and the northern Front Range as severe violators of federal air quality standards. The North Denver area is one of the most polluted zip codes in the country, with residents facing multiple threats from industrial facilities like the Suncor refinery, Superfund sites, rail traffic, and multiple highways. Trucks coming and going daily from factories located right by residential neighborhoods are a significant source of toxic pollution which impacts the predominantly Latino community in the region. 

A strong clean trucks rule package would cut smog and soot-forming emissions by 90% by 2050 compared to today, reducing respiratory disease, hospital admissions, and premature deaths — benefits worth more than $3 billion. These health benefits are especially important for the low-income communities and communities of color who have faced the worst impacts from Colorado’s highways and industrial facilities, as they will help residents avoid missed days at school and work, hospital admissions, emergency room visits, and premature death. This is an important opportunity to address Colorado’s history of environmental racism.   

Not only will clean trucks clean up our air quality, but they will also save us money and create new jobs. There are significant economic benefits from this clean trucks package. Electric trucks cost less money to maintain than diesel trucks. In fact, savings could add up to more than $6 billion through 2050. That will mean reduced shipping costs for commercial goods and a stronger economy that benefits everyone in our state.

Colorado has repeatedly failed its residents on both air quality and living up to its climate commitments. Disproportionately, this burden falls on low-income communities and communities of color across the state, particularly those who live near highways or industrial facilities with increased toxic truck pollution. By taking action to adopt these new clean truck policies, Colorado can show that it means business on moving toward a clean energy economy. We can no longer kick the can down the road — the time for clean trucks and healthier air quality is now. Send a letter to Colorado’s Air Quality Control Commission demanding meaningful action today.