Big Changes for Big Rig Emissions on PA Roads

Posted at http://www.publicnewsservice.org/2016-08-23/climate-change-air-quality/big-changes-for-big-rig-emissions-on-pa-roads/a53681-1

August 23, 2016 – Mary Kuhlman, Public News Service (PA)

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Semi trucks traveling across Pennsylvania will soon have to include improved carbon-emissions technology. (Tony Webster/flickr.com)

HARRISBURG, Pa. – Pennsylvania drivers have to share the road with thousands of heavy-duty trucks that transport thousands of pounds of goods across the state every day. But because we also share the air, the Obama administration announced this week that new carbon-emissions standards will require up to a 25-percent reduction over the next 10 years.

Paul Billings, senior vice president for advocacy with the American Lung Association, said it will improve the health of people, and the economy.

“These rules will provide tremendous climate and health benefits to the American people, and the great thing about them is they actually save people money too because the vehicles will be more efficient to operate because they’ll burn less fuel and operate more efficiently,” he said.

There are more than 1,900 miles of interstate in Pennsylvania and twelve primary interstates, making the state a heavily traveled region for large-truck traffic. Some in the trucking industry are concerned about the expense required as companies update their fleets.

With semi-trucks often lasting at least 10 years on the road, and driving a million miles over their “lifetime,” Billings says the new emissions standards will have a long-term impact on the country’s air quality.

“The thing about trucks is they last a long time, and so it takes a long time for new technology to come in and replace the older trucks as they retire,” he added. “But this is a forward-looking rule, so we continue to see benefits as these cleaner, more efficient vehicles replace the older, less efficient vehicles.”

The administration estimates the new rules will cut 1.1 billion metric tons of carbon emissions by 2027 and save the trucking industry $170 billion in fuel costs, reducing petroleum use by two billion barrels over the lifetime of the vehicles sold under the new rules.