Groundswell of Support Continues for Cleaning Up Gasoline and Car-caused Smog

Luke Tonachel, Vehicles Analyst, New York City

New polling demonstrates strong public support for tighter standards on gasoline and car tailpipes to reduce smog and other pollutants. The poll results bolster the calls from a diverse set of interests in business, health and environmental communities for the federal government to move forward with Tier 3 sulfur and pollution standards.

According to a poll released today by the American Lung Association, Americans want more protection for air quality. Of the 800 surveyed voters (across parties), "[a] 2-to-1 majority (62 to 32 percent) support EPA setting stricter standards on gasoline and tightening limits on tailpipe emissions from new vehicles."

Some federal leaders have already heard the call from their constituents. As I described in an earlier post, a group of thirteen Senators urged that new standards be set. Echoing the call for action on Tier 3 was a recent joint letter from businesses, labor leaders and environmental groups.

State governors and public health advocates have also weighed in with letters, available here and here.

The automakers support Tier 3 standards too.

Fortunately, the Obama Administration is taking notice. Yesterday, the long overdue Tier 3 proposal from U.S. EPA to cut gasoline sulfur levels and strengthen new vehicle tailpipe standards for smog-forming pollutants like nitrogen oxides was sent for review at the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Once the rule clears OMB-which has been targeted for March-it will be made available for public comment. This will be another important opportunity to lend your voice in support-and I'll keep you posted on how to do it.

I won't be surprised to see the oil industry ramp-up its efforts to kill these important standards that will clean our air. They will claim that the standards will cause a large jump in gasoline prices but analysis Navigant Economics has shown that the impact is likely less than a penny a gallon, if perceptible at all at the pump.

On the other hand, the pollution reductions achieved by the standard result in huge health benefits, estimated at over $5 billion per year by 2020 and over $10 billion per year by 2030. Note, also, that as soon as the gasoline sulfur is lowered, existing vehicles on the road will run cleaner. The instant pollution reduction will be equivalent to taking 33 million of today's automobiles off the road.

As the polling released today shows, we value our health and know that it depends on clean air. It's time to move quickly to adopt common-sense Tier 3 standards and make breathing easier for us and for future generations.

http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/ltonachel/groundswell_of_support_con

CalOSHA Investigation: Chevron Intentionally and Knowingly Failed to Comply with Safety Standards that Lead to Richmond Refinery Fire

Diane Bailey, Senior Scientist, San Francisco

The fifteen thousand people who streamed into Bay-Area hospitals knew there was something terribly wrong with Chevron's Richmond refinery when it caught on fire on August 6th, 2012. What they did not now is that, according to a CalOSHA investigation released today, Chevron USA "intentionally and knowingly failed to comply with state safety standards" leading to a catastrophic fire that put workers and the surrounding community at serious risk.

What happened on August 6th? A severely corroded pipe in one of the crude units (where they begin processing crude oil into gas and diesel) began leaking. Chevron chose not to shut down the leaking unit and instead ordered workers to remove insulation. The pipe then ruptured, igniting a massive fire. Luckily but narrowly, the workers escaped without serious injuries.

CalOSHA's investigation of the incident has resulted in a total of 25 citations, many of them with the highest classification of "willful serious" and totaling roughly $1 million in penalties, the highest fine of its kind in California history. Of most concern, CalOSHA found that:

• Chevron did not follow the recommendations of its own experts and inspectors who first began warning back in 2002 that the piping that ruptured should have been replaced.
• When that pipe began leaking, Chevron failed to follow its own emergency shutdown procedures, putting workers at the site and thousands of area residents at extreme risk.

The Chevron Richmond plant is the largest polluter in all of California, making the health and safety standards that much more important. In addition to all the pollution from this facility, there is a cloud of fear and anxiety hanging over the workers and the community of Richmond. When will the next accident happen? Will it be deadly? Is it safe for me and my family to live near the refinery?

While Chevron claims that it intends to compensate community members with "valid claims" (what does that mean?), monetary compensation will not address the ongoing health and safety concerns among workers and the community. As Chevron continues to use dirtier, higher sulfur and more corrosive grades of crude oil at the refinery, we can expect similar incidents and higher pollution levels.

As an engineer, it's shocking to see the photos and reports from CalOSHA and other agencies, showing pieces of piping that were corroded by 80 percent with little more than a shell of the original pipe holding things together. This kind of shoddy and seriously negligent maintenance is not what you expect to see from one of the largest companies in the world (Chevron Corporation earned more than $200 billion in revenue last year). It poses a deadly safety risk to workers and residents alike.

The Chevron Richmond refinery urgently needs a safety face-lift. Every recommendation from CalOSHA must be implemented immediately, and the use of dirtier, more corrosive and dangerous heavy crude oils must cease. Chevron needs to live up to its claims of caring about the environment and safeguarding its employees. The Richmond facility needs to be upgraded to meet modern safety and environmental standards to remove that cloud of pollution and fear hanging over workers and the community.

http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/dbailey/calosha_investigation_chevro

Time to Dump Dirty Diesels Worldwide

Peter Lehner, Executive Director, New York City

When I took over the environmental prosecution unit of the New York City Law Department in 1990, I conducted an informal survey of everyone I knew, asking: What's the worst environmental problem in New York City? By a big margin, people said it was the black smoke coming out of trucks and buses, emitted from a tailpipe at the same level as kids' heads.

Today, few people would even mention it. Real change happened here, and relatively quickly. Ducking to avoid a smelly cloud of toxic, cancer-causing diesel exhaust is a reflex that New Yorkers need rarely call upon, thanks to clean air laws and strict emission standards on diesel. When the last of the dirty diesels are phased out across the country, around 2030, we'll be saving about 26,000 lives each year.

Diesel pollution from buses in Jakarta (courtesy Asian Development Bank via Flickr)

In the developing world, however, diesel is still a killer. (Diesel emissions certainly played a role in China's recent off-the-charts smog.) Dirty diesel engines, along with power plants and traditional cookstoves, are major generators of particulate matter--more commonly referred to as soot--which is responsible for 3.2 million premature deaths each year, worldwide.

Diesel engines are also a major contributor to climate change. At the heart of every diesel soot particle lies a light-absorbing, heat-emitting core of what's called black carbon. According to a major new study published last week, black carbon is the second largest human-made contributor to global warming. It has twice the global warming impact previously thought. And diesel engines are responsible for 20 to 25 percent of the world's black carbon emissions.

So diesel exhaust is not only a deadly public health risk, but a powerful agent of global warming as well. Yet we know from experience that we can slash diesel pollution, quickly and effectively.

In the United States, programs to clean up diesel have been remarkably effective. When New York City got rid of its dirty diesel buses (in response to a campaign spearheaded by NRDC), particulate emissions from the fleet dropped 97 percent. Black carbon emissions were likely cut by a similar amount through that effort. In California, total black carbon emissions have fallen nearly 50 percent in the past 25 years, largely due to strict diesel emission standards.

New diesel engines in this country are now 90 to 95 percent cleaner than engines that were sold just a few years ago, thanks to a national low-sulfur fuel standard and emissions standards that have made new filter technologies standard equipment on all new trucks and buses. America's clean diesel programs are expected to prevent 26,000 premature deaths every year.

Similar programs around the world have the potential to save millions of lives--and can also help put the brakes on global warming in the short term. Unlike carbon dioxide, black carbon is a short-lived climate pollutant. It takes effect quickly, and wears off quickly. When we pump less of it into the atmosphere, the benefits are almost immediate.

Diesel vehicles in developing nations burn high-sulfur fuel and lack even the most basic emissions controls, exposing people to nearly 100 times as much toxic pollution, while also generating tons of global warming pollution. Because diesel pollution occurs in densely populated areas, right at breathing level, it has an outsized impact on human health, making diesel a critical target in the fight for clean air. And because diesel exhaust produces black carbon, which has now been confirmed as a major global warming pollutant, it's also a critical target in the fight to curb climate change.

NRDC, a founder of the Partnership for Clean Fuels and Vehicles, has been working on cleaning up diesel pollution throughout the developing world.

Through the partnership, countries around the world have started working toward creating a standard for ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel. This fuel is already available in some major world cities, including Delhi, Hong Kong, Mexico City, and Beijing, but its use is not widespread, and certainly not standard.

The partnership's previous success in eliminating lead from gasoline worldwide-a move that is expected to generate $2.4 trillion in health, social, and economic benefits--lends hope that it could achieve similar success with diesel. Cleaning up diesel worldwide would prevent millions of premature deaths from cancer, heart attacks, and lung disease. It would also help to quickly reduce global warming pollution. Along with our efforts to counter the long-term, potent effects of carbon dioxide, it makes eminent sense to tackle short-acting pollutants like black carbon as well. Dumping dirty diesel is an excellent way to start.

http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/plehner/time_to_dump_dirty_diesels_w