California seeks to ban sales of diesel big rigs in a bold bid to cut pollution
California is poised to become the first state in the nation to pass a law cracking down on the use of diesel fuel to power large pickup trucks and other large passenger vehicles.
A coalition of environmental groups is gathering signatures to put it on the November 2020 ballot.
Diesel emissions are a major contributor to air pollution across the state. The American Lung Association says the trucks cause cancer and other diseases, and that they are responsible for more than half of the state’s greenhouse gases.
The state’s big rig ban would apply to the top half of the 10 largest trucks on the road. They use diesel fuel to propel their beds or tires.
One truck owner, who asked not to be identified, thinks the ban will help solve a decades-long problem, as well as protect drivers and their wallets. But experts say it could also reduce the number of trucks on the road if they are forced to buy high-mileage fuel.
What is a “diesel” truck?
Diesel engines were designed to run on unleaded gasoline.
But because of decades of public pressure, California now has a strict clean air law.
A diesel truck uses diesel fuel with a higher concentration of sulfur and nitrogen oxides than gasoline. That makes it less fuel efficient than light-duty vehicles that don’t use diesel fuel.
But critics say the trucks can be more fuel-efficient than their engines, and that the big rigs cause more air pollution.
One big reason for concern is the high price of diesel, which is four times the price of regular fuel.
The average big rig buyer now figures the money he’d save on fuel would buy a lot of air cleaner than what he uses now.
That’s the view of Bob Dillard, a retired truck driver who lives in Santa Fe. He says the average big rig driver in his 40-year career, has put over 60,000 to 100,000 hours behind the wheel.
“I’m a conservation-minded person so that means I would be very concerned about going back to diesel, and what it would do to the air quality, and to the environment,” Dillard says, “As long
