Cleaner Freight Transportation in CA: Report Shows Electrification is a Key Strategy for Reducing Air Pollution that Contributes to Asthma
A report released by environmental health and justice advocates outlines solutions for overhauling the state’s freight system to protect public health, meet air quality standards and slow the pace of climate change. Freight transportation in California creates air pollution that harms the health of communities exposed to its dangerous emissions and contributes to global warming. The new study commissioned by the California Cleaner Freight Coalition, Moving California Forward, Zero and Low-Emissions Freight Pathways, evaluates strategies for modernizing how goods are moved through California. By evaluating alternatives to conventional diesel vehicles, the analysis aims to inform a statewide plan for cleaning up freight transportation. RAMP is a founding member of the CCFC.
The key report findings include:
- Deploying electric transportation technologies that are currently in development or demonstration for local and short-haul trips would provide the greatest overall reduction in pollutants, and could eliminate tailpipe emissions in communities impacted by freight movement.
- Moving goods by train and ship for regional trips could reduce emissions well beyond today’s cleanest diesel trucks.
- Transporting containers double-stacked on railcars powered by the cleanest locomotives can reduce particulate matter, nitrogen oxide, and greenhouse gas emissions by more than 75 percent.
- Compared to the newest trucks, transporting truck trailers on flatbed railcars through the San Joaquin Valley would significantly reduce emissions in a region that suffers from high levels of pollution.
The Coalition cautions that any shift in freight movement to rail or ship, while providing regional pollution benefits, would need to ensure reduction in emissions, exposure, and health risks to those communities close to rail yards, rail lines, ports and shipping lanes.
For more information, please review the following documents:
