Causes for celebration! This month marked the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, when we celebrate the planet and reinforce our messages of conservation and protection. Coalition for Clean Air (CCA) was born from those values, and for nearly 40 years, we have remained committed to the clean air cause. The last year alone was one of many accomplishments for CCA. The Road to Clean Air, our first-ever annual report, highlights some of the milestones achieved in 2009. Download the report (2-Mb PDF) to read about our campaign work—and our victories! Additionally, CCA was honored in Environment Now's 6th Annual Top Achievements of the Environmental Community in Southern California (5.6-Mb PDF), which highlights our success with the Clean Trucks Program and the national adoption of the Clean Cars Law. We are proud of our accomplishments and look forward to many more years of continued success in our bold vision of clean,
healthy air in California.
Coalition for Clean Air is pleased to announce our featured honorees—T. Boone Pickens and Senate President pro Tem Darrel Steinberg—for the 2010 California Air Quality Awards. This year's luncheon will celebrate innovations in clean transportation. Visit the event page for additional honorees, plus ticket and sponosorship information.
In a huge win for the nation's environment, public health and energy security, the Obama administration this month announced new standards for fuel economy and global warming emissions for automobiles. The rule is based on California's Clean Cars Law, which CCA originally co-sponsored in 2002. Our efforts—and the adoption of the law by 13 other states—have set the bar for the nation and the future of cleaner transportation. Read our news flash on the White House announcement.
A study released by the Rand Corporation in March shows that air pollution doesn't just cause major health problems for Californians; it also costs us nearly $200 million a year. In a time of economic crisis, clean air protections are more important than ever. Read the Rand report and news coverage in the San Francisco Chronicle. Meanwhile, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) just released a report on how climate change is already affecting the health and environment of Americans. Key indicators include rising temperatures and sea levels, loss of glacier volume, and intensified heat waves and cyclones. Read more about the Climate Change Indicators report.
Minding the Climate Gap: What's at Stake if California's Climate Law isn't Done Right and Right Away is a new report that analyzes the potential impacts of AB 32, California's landmark Global Warming Solutions Act. Its supportive findings are timely and crucial, as our climate law is under fire from big polluters.
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) in March announced landmark safeguards that will result in cleaner air for millions of Americans. The accepted proposal, which designates waters off the North American coasts as an Emission Control Area (ECA), takes its cue from California's action on ship fuels and CCA's work on port pollution.
The American Trucking Association (ATA) lawsuit against the Clean Trucks Program commenced this month. CCA has joined fellow advocates and the Port of Los Angeles in defending this groundbreaking program against those who want to dismantle it.
Speeding ships waste fuel, endanger whales and other marine life, and produce hazardous amounts of greenhouse gases and other toxic air pollutants. In our last issue, we discussed CCA's work to implement mandatory speed limits for vessels along the California coast. We have since seen some encouraging support for this movement, here in California and around the world.
Last year CCA sucessfully advocated to ban the use of dimethyl carbonate (DMC)—a known volatile organic compound (VOC) and developmental toxin—in a wide variety of industrial, janitorial and consumer cleaning products. On the table again this year, allowance of the harmful chemical was sucessfully blocked for the second time.
In January the U.S. EPA proposed stricter, more protective smog standards and announced it would conduct three public hearings across the country. One of these was held in Sacramento in February, and CCA and the Watchdog Committee of the Central Valley Air Quality Coalition mobilized 23 community members to attend and testify.
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Air quality victory on North American coasts
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California's climate law championed in time of attack Minding the Climate Gap: What's at Stake if California's Climate Law isn't Done Right and Right Away is a new report that analyzes the potential impacts of AB 32, California's landmark Global Warming Solutions Act. Its supportive findings are timely and crucial, as our climate law is under fire from big polluters. The report finds that implementation of AB 32 could protect neighborhoods already overburdened by air pollution and result in cleaner air for all of California. Furthermore, programs for incentivizing the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions could generate health benefits and revenues for communities most threatened by climate change. California's climate law is the subject of a ballot initiative funded by two big Texas oil companies—Valero Energy and Tesoro—who seek to suspend AB 32 until the state's unemployment rate goes below 5.5 percent. It should come as no surprise that the Climate Gap report lists both of these companies among the top 15 greenhouse gas emitters contributing to California's health risk from air pollution. Read news coverage about the report.
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Air quality victory on North American coasts The International Maritime Organization (IMO) in March announced landmark safeguards that will result in cleaner air for millions of Americans. The accepted proposal, which designates waters off the North American coasts as an Emission Control Area (ECA), takes its cue from California's action on ship fuels and CCA's work on port pollution. Enforcing the tough ECA standards will reduce sulfur content in fuel by 98 percent, drastically cutting harmful emissions. Phase-in of the new rules begins in 2012, and starting in 2016, new ships must use advanced technologies that will further reduce emissions. The U.S. EPA estimates that as a result, nearly 5 million people will experience relief from acute respiratory symptoms by 2020, and as many as 14,000 lives will be saved each year. CCA has fought for years to achieve cleaner ship fuel standards in California, helping to spur the discussion nationally. With the new presidential administration, the EPA took our actions worldwide and submitted the proposal to the IMO. And here we are today, ready to reduce tens of thousands of deaths annually attributed to ship pollution. Read more about the Emission Control Area.
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Advocates defend Clean Trucks Program in court The American Trucking Association (ATA) lawsuit against the Clean Trucks Program commenced this month. CCA has joined fellow advocates and the Port of Los Angeles in defending this groundbreaking program against those who want to dismantle it. In its first year alone, the Clean Trucks Program reduced more than 30 tons of air pollution and provided more than $44 million in clean truck purchase investments. In December the U.S. EPA gave an award to CCA and the innovative stakeholder partnership that shaped the program. Despite its tremendous success, keeping the Clean Trucks Program alive has been an uphill battle for CCA and our allies. Shortly after the program's adoption, CCA joined the effort to defend it against the lawsuit. Suspending the program would effectively reinstate the old, broken trucking system and diminish clean air benefits for the more than 2 million people living near our ports. A potential boon for clean trucks programs—here and across the nation—is the upcoming May 5 congressional hearing on the impacts of port trucking. Advocates are calling for an update of federal laws to help bolster local efforts to reduce port truck pollution. Take action! Send your letter urging Congress to support real clean truck programs at our ports.
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Support for the slowing of speeding ships Speeding ships waste fuel, endanger whales and other marine life, and produce hazardous amounts of greenhouse gases and other toxic air pollutants. In our last issue, we discussed CCA's work to implement mandatory speed limits for vessels along the California coast. We have since seen some encouraging support for this movement, here in California and around the world. As we read in the New York Times, international shipping companies have embraced slower speeds to cut emissions and save costs. Danish shipping giant Maersk and other carriers are drastically reducing their cruising speeds, cutting fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. According to the Environmental News Network, conservation activists in Southern California are urging the Coast Guard to protect endangered whales by instituting vessel speed limits along the coast. Find out more about CCA's work on this issue.
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Air toxics averted once again in Southern California Last year CCA sucessfully advocated to ban the use of dimethyl carbonate (DMC)—a known volatile organic compound (VOC) and developmental toxin—in a wide variety of industrial, janitorial and consumer cleaning products. On the table again this year, allowance of the harmful chemical was sucessfully blocked for the second time. In 2009 the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) considered approving DMC, despite serious health concerns and a lack of health impact research. CCA mobilized the environmental community and urged the SCAQMD to delay the allowed use of DMC until the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment performed a more thorough evaluation of all the toxicity data available. Based on a narrow interpretation of those results, SCAQMD again proposed exemption of DMC for use in paint thinners and solvents. CCA and other advocates came to the rescue, further educating committee members and upholding the argument that DMC poses a toxic pollution risk in our communities and workplaces. The SCAQMD ultimately rejected the proposal, signifying another win for clean air! For more information on this and our other efforts to reduce air toxics from consumer products, contact Deputy Director of Campaigns Luis Cabrales.
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Valley residents testify on proposed EPA smog standards In January the U.S. EPA proposed stricter, more protective smog standards and announced it would conduct three public hearings across the country. One of these was held in Sacramento in February, and CCA and the Watchdog Committee of the Central Valley Air Quality Coalition mobilized 23 community members to attend and testify. Smog, also known as ground-level ozone, is a known hazard to public health; it harms otherwise healthy people and increases the risk of premature death in those with heart or lung disease. The EPA’s proposal follows the recommendations of federal scientists and would upgrade previous standards that were not protective enough of human health. The EPA will finalize its decision by August 31. Read more about the EPA proposal.
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