From the Union of Concerned Scientists (http://www.ucsusa.org):
One of the last actions of former administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Scott Pruitt was to announce that the agency would not enforce pollution rules for dirty trucks. This would allow these trucks, known as glider vehicles, which are trucks that have a new shell and an old, dirty engine, to be driven on our roads unregulated.
The good news is that we still have the chance to fight back! With the spotlight now on the new acting administrator of the EPA, Andrew Wheeler, we have the chance to push him to protect public health by enforcing the rule that keeps these trucks off the road.
If you don’t want to see more of these super polluting trucks billowing black smoke down the highway near you, tell acting Administrator Wheeler now at https://secure.ucsusa.org/onlineactions/M5_c_eYQvEO2lEM297pVmw2!
While these vehicles only make up five percent of the freight fleet, they emit a third of the pollution for ALL long-haul trucks. According to the EPA’s own analysis, the toxic pollution emitted from these vehicles could cause at least 1,600 premature deaths every year and emit up to 40 times more pollution than new trucks.
The last time we created a ruckus around these egregious trucks, the bogus study funded by their primary manufacturer was retracted. And the EPA is feeling the pressure from multiple fronts. After multiple environmental groups filed a lawsuit against the EPA on their decision to allow these trucks on our roads unchecked, the DC circuit court issued a short-term block of the EPA’s actions. Just this week, a group including multiple state attorneys general and state environmental agencies filed their own lawsuit against the EPA on this issue.
We hope that this time, our combined voices will force the acting EPA administrator to listen to the facts, stand up for public health, and kill these dirty trucks once and for all.
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