Photo by Vinny Spotleson from the Southern Nevada Group of National Drive Electric Week 2021 Transportation is the largest source of climate pollution in the United States, representing almost a third of all greenhouse gas emissions. Cars powered by gas are responsible for  the bulk of these emissions, and vehicle pollution is not only disruptive to our climate— it also increases the risk of  health issues like asthma, bronchitis, cancer, and premature death.  We have the tools to clean up our transportation system, limiting the impacts of the climate crisis and improving public ..read more

I became a clean transportation policy advocate because, having grown up in Atlanta, with its infamous traffic and bad air quality, I know firsthand that we must help shape public policy to prevent harm to our health and our environment.  In early April, the Environmental Protection Agency heard three days of compelling and thorough testimony from people from all walks of life about why we need a rapid transition to 100 percent zero-emission trucks and buses.  They heard from doctors, kids, environmentalists, parents, and people living in frontline communities (near major highways an ..read more

Photo by Katherine García For the first time since 2001, the Environmental Protection Agency is working on a new rule to clean up pollution from trucks, protect public health, and address the climate crisis. The time is ripe for such a rule. The recent IPCC report highlighted the urgency of rapid and deep changes to prevent catastrophic climate change, and the use of zero-emission vehicles is already accelerating dramatically.  While trucks and buses make up only 10 percent of all vehicles on US roads, they are one of the largest sources of smog and particulate pollution, resulting in sev ..read more

Photo by iStock.com/Olga Kaya This week, the EPA hosted a three-day public hearing on a proposed rule to strengthen regulations—for the first time in two decades—to clean up pollution from trucks and buses. After originally announcing a two-day hearing, so many people, including dozens of Sierra Club recruits of volunteers, staff, and members, signed up to make their voice heard that the EPA had to add a third day. We're so grateful for all the people that have testified over the past three days for #CleanerTrucks, and for those still to come. Here's a reminder from former @EPA Director ..read more

Photo by iStock.com/Willowpix People often speak about how the climate crisis will affect future generations as a reason for taking action, and that is true and important. Today’s young people deserve to inherit a planet that isn’t characterized by ever-worsening climate disasters. But the reality is, we are experiencing the impacts of the climate crisis now. Just last month, the Northeast faced devastating impacts from Hurricane Ida, which killed 44 people and left more than 150,000 homes without power across New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.As an organizer working in ..read more

The Port of Long Beach had a golden opportunity this week to deliver cleaner air and longer lives to Southern California communities by investing in pollution-free electric trucks. Instead, in a major blow to efforts to improve public health in some of the most polluted neighborhoods in the nation, port officials voted to use precious clean air funds to subsidize the transition to trucks that run on “natural” gas—a technology that is, by many measures, just as polluting as diesel.  This vote  will have disastrous consequences for Long Beach residents. It will mean more air pollution ..read more

Photo Credit: Louisiana Clean Fuels Momentum is as high as ever to eliminate climate-disrupting pollution from the transportation sector.  Last week, the White House released its Build Back Better framework. Sierra Club activists have spent months pushing Congress for a bold infrastructure package that will invest in climate, jobs, and justice. The framework includes over $500 billion in dozens of climate policies that will transform the way we power our homes, our vehicles, and our communities, while creating family-sustaining green jobs.  Clean transportation is a big part of the B ..read more

Photo by Jimmy O’Dea BREAKING: The US is charging forward on pollution-free transportation, and tackling some of the dirtiest vehicles through new rules that require truck and bus manufacturers to go electric. The transition to cleaner trucks and buses can’t come fast enough. Electric medium and heavy-duty trucks save lives, and states across the nation are taking note and adopting policies to safeguard the health of their residents. This week, Washington became the second state after Oregon to adopt California’s Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) rule, which will slash diesel emissions, improve ..read more

On a sunny autumn morning, our neighbor and her woodwind quintet were rehearsing in her backyard. I was outside with our two black cats, enjoying the crisp fresh air and the uplifting rendition of Mozart’s Divertimento No. 14. Then, in a yard a couple of houses down the street, leaf blowers roared to life, fortissimo, their ear-splitting cacophony drowning out all other sounds. Propelled by the leaf blowers’ 200-mph winds, noxious exhaust drifted down the block. At jackhammer-like noise levels that can exceed 100 decibels, leaf blowers damage the hearing of those who use them. The noise ..read more

Photo by iStockphoto.com/Kruck20 The transportation sector is our nation’s largest contributor of climate-disrupting emissions, which makes slashing vehicle emissions an essential part of meeting our climate goals. For decades, automakers—like oil companies—knew about climate change and continued to manufacture gas guzzlers. But finally, there is now major momentum in the US around federal investment in electric vehicles (EVs). EVs’ moment in the spotlight has been a long time coming, and there should be no question we need EVs to help combat the climate crisis.  But plugging into EVs is ..read more