How bad is carbon pollution near U.S. ports of entry?

Our freight transportation system relies upon legions of fossil-fueled ships, trucks, trains and heavy-duty equipment to move huge volumes of cargo through seaports, rail yards, highway freight corridors and warehouses. Roughly a third of harmful smog-forming emissions from vehicles in the U.S. are contributed by heavy duty trucks.

What are the communities located near these sites like?

Communities living in the shadow of freight operations are often working-class, low-income communities of color that are caught at the dangerous intersection of toxic pollution, systemic racism, long-term disinvestment, poverty, political imbalance and climate disaster.

What other challenges do these communities face?

Environmental justice communities also experience impacts beyond health disparities, such as public safety concerns from truck and rail traffic, impacts to safe routes to schools, highways and rail lines that create barriers between residents and vital resources, and a pattern of land use decisions that prioritize industry over community well-being.

Rail yards are considered heavy pollution areas in part because of the fossil-fueled freight trucks frequenting the sites. One-third of smog-forming emissions comes from heavy duty trucks.

Photo by Teppakorn tongboonto, courtesy iStockphoto

What is the Moving Forward Network doing?

The network has launched a Zero Emission in Freight campaign where advocates and allies can join in by holding decisionmakers and industries accountable. This is through advocacy and organizing to change the laws and policies that will protect us from harms caused by the freight sector.

Moving Forward Network supports front-line-led solutions to achieve a zero emission future for our freight system, and ensure that solutions incorporate a holistic approach that prioritizes environmental justice. Voices of environmental justice communities and front-line workers must not only be included, they must be centered in order to advance a just transition to zero emissions.

What can public health advocates do?

Advocates can support community-led organizing strategies, and demand accountability and regulations from the (Biden) administration and EPA. For decades, communities across the country have been fighting for one of the most basic rights that everyone should have — the right to breathe clean air.

What are the human health risks for communities near freight lines?

Serious health impacts associated with diesel exhaust exposure include increased risk of premature mortality, lung cancer and cardiovascular, cardiopulmonary and respiratory diseases.

Although everyone is susceptible to diesel pollution impacts, children, the elderly and individuals with preexisting respiratory conditions are the most vulnerable.

Children are vulnerable because their lungs are still developing and they tend to spend more time outdoors. The University of California’s Children’s Health Study, one of the most detailed studies on this, found that living in communities with higher roadway pollution levels causes increased risk for asthma and measurable lung damage.

For more on EPA’s “Control of Air Pollution From New Motor Vehicles: Heavy-Duty Engine and Vehicle Standards,” visit www.epa.gov/regulations-emissions-vehicles-and-engines. For more on the Moving Forward Network, visit www.movingforwardnetwork.com.

This interview was edited for style, clarity and length