Thank You for Smoking (Diesel)

So imagine you’re a smoker who’s trying to quit. You’ve bought your nicotine gum or a patch and have joined a smoking cessation group. You’ve even been fortunate enough to take advantage of some local government programs that are helping you to pay for this treatment. You’re excited about finally kicking this dirty habit and grateful for the outside help offered by your friendly local government.

Then one day a state agency shows up and says, “You know what, we’re still going to help you out but instead of helping you quit we’re going to give you money to smoke Camel Lights instead of the regular cigarettes – they’re better for you.” This of course is ridiculous and would probably never happen.

But it’s happening with diesel trucks. Last week the California Air Resources Board (CARB) decided to dedicate $98 million dollars towards replacing older diesel trucks with “clean” diesel trucks instead of incentivizing the cleanest available alternative-fueled (LNG and electric) trucks. It’s a complicated story but the basics are that the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach set up an incentive and fee system that makes these cleanest trucks much more attractive than diesel. To get around those incentives CARB has decided to reroute the $98 million through another public agency the effect of which would exempt diesel trucks from all cargo fees, making them very cheap compared to alternative-fueled trucks.

There are a few tragedies here. First, without offering any incentives for diesel trucks whatsoever virtually the entire port fleet of 9,000 trucks would be composed of brand new diesel trucks by the beginning of 2010. This money – taxpayer money – would essentially be an unnecessary handout to the diesel industry. Second, the Ports, as a result of public pressure and recognizing that it is in their long-term best interests have set up a structure that could impel the introduction of thousands of alternative-fueled trucks into the marketplace. CARB’s move threatens to sabotage this, and does not respect the years of hard work done by the Ports, local agencies, advocacy groups, and general public to prioritize alternative fuels. Finally, “Clean” diesel only addresses air quality – and aren’t even the best option for that. Alternative-fueled trucks more effectively address air quality and also reduce climate change pollution, petroleum dependence, and create jobs in the green sector.

This is a critical time to push technologies that can help us solve the environmental and economic challenges we face. Using diesel is a dirty habit no matter how many filters we put on it because diesel is inherently dirty. Time to kick this habit not subsidize it.