When it comes to protecting our air and public health, speaking up matters. That’s why we’re grateful to the Sierra Club staff who testified before the Environmental Protection Agency last month in opposition to its proposal to weaken critical pollution protections for heavy-duty trucks.
EPA’s proposal would reduce the length of time manufacturers must stand behind pollution-control equipment, weaken durability requirements, and allow manufacturers to rely on credits rather than making meaningful reductions in pollution and buy their way out of compliance. The result would be more pollution on our roads and in the communities that live and work near highways, ports, warehouses, and freight corridors.
These changes aren’t just regulatory rollbacks on paper; they have real consequences for people’s health. Heavy-duty vehicles are a major source of nitrogen oxide and particle pollution, which can contribute to asthma, heart disease, lung cancer, and premature death. And when manufacturers shift responsibility for maintaining pollution controls onto truck owners, drivers and families are left to shoulder the costs while communities are left breathing dirtier air.
“I’ve spent years working on the transition to cleaner transportation, and truck manufacturers have an important role to play in that transition. We need them investing in cleaner technology, planning ahead, and standing behind the products they sell. That’s why their support for weakening these standards is so disappointing,” – Jesse Piedfort, Deputy Director of Sierra Club’s Clean Transportation for All campaign
The need for strong protections is especially urgent in communities already burdened by truck pollution. EPA’s own modeling shows that strong vehicle standards can prevent millions of tons of harmful pollution and tens of thousands of premature deaths, along with millions of asthma attacks and lost school and work days.
“There is no need to go backwards by revoking these truck pollution standards, and leaving children like my daughter with increased exposure to respiratory illnesses like asthma, leaving them wondering throughout their childhood why this is happening to them.” – Eric Willadsen, Campaign Organizing Strategist with Sierra Club’s Clean Transportation for All campaign
Thank you to our Sierra Club staff and allies who took the time to make their voices heard. We will continue fighting for strong, enforceable clean truck standards that protect people, not industry profits, and ensure that manufacturers—not truck drivers and communities—are held responsible for keeping pollution controls working.
You can view excerpts from testimonials at this Twitter/X thread.