Group Urges Immediate Action to Reduce Diesel Pollution

New Report Shows More than 1,100 Pennsylvanians Die Each Year

HARRISBURG, Pa., Feb. 22 -- With a new national study showing more than 1,100 Pennsylvanians die each year from pollution from diesel engines - making our state the third most dangerous in sheer numbers and the eighth in per capita deaths in the nation - Citizens for Pennsylvania's Future (PennFuture) today urged Governor Ed Rendell to take immediate action to reduce pollution from diesel engines.

"We've identified three clear actions that the Governor could take immediately to protect the health of Pennsylvanians," said Jan Jarrett, Vice- President of PennFuture. "These include requiring all diesel equipment employed in state-funded projects to use either clean or retrofitted trucks and diesel equipment; to develop statewide anti-idling regulations, similar to those in Allegheny County and Philadelphia; and to expand the truck stop electrification program, to assist truckers from having to idle to protect their cargo and themselves. These three steps are technologically and financial feasible, and would result in significant improved health for the one million Pennsylvanians with respiratory illnesses."

The study released today, "Diesel and Health in America: The Lingering Threat," was researched and developed using EPA's own scientific methodology over the past year by the Clean Air Task Force. The report notes that the diesel death toll will continue unless federal and state authorities take aggressive action to clean up existing sources of diesel soot - including buses, trucks, ships, construction and farm equipment. The study includes county-by-county and metro regional area statistics for sickness and death from this virulent pollution.

"Every day there is more compelling evidence that the microscopic soot and other pollution from diesel engines is even more deadly than we previously thought," said Jarrett. "Although federal regulations will require new diesel engines to burn clean beginning in 2007, that does nothing about the majority of diesel engines being used - some of which could be used for another 30 years. We simply can't allow more Pennsylvanians to die while we wait for the new law to take full effect. We need Governor Rendell to act immediately to stop this major public health problem."

Today's report and PennFuture's letter to the Governor are available at the PennFuture website, http://www.pennfuture.org/, along with links to the regional and county statistics on death and disease. Other environmental groups in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia are also calling for local actions, with the Group Against Smog and Pollution working on anti-idling regulations in Allegheny County and the Clean Air Council coordinating the Philadelphia Diesel Difference Working Group.

PennFuture is a statewide public interest membership organization that advances policies to protect and improve the state's environment and economy. PennFuture's activities include litigating cases before regulatory bodies and in local, state and federal courts, advocating and advancing legislative action on a state and federal level, public education and assisting citizens in public advocacy.

Founded in 1996, the Clean Air Task Force (CATF) (http://www.catf.us/) is a public interest organization dedicated to restoring clean air and healthy environments through scientific research, public education, and legal advocacy. CATF's staff includes scientists, engineers, economists, MBAs and lawyers. The organization works closely with more than 40 state, local, regional and national groups to educate the public, media, industry and public decision makers on the science and economics of clean air policies through fact-based and locally appropriate advocacy.