Local 10 President Trent Willis with members of the Bay Area Ditching Diesel Collaborative remind truckers and law enforcement officials on Oct.18 about a state anti-idling law that is not being adequately enforced in California communities like West Oakland. Photo by: John Showalter
Longshore Local 10 President Trent Willis (at microphone) joined health, environmental and community groups Oct. 18 to publicize a state law prohibiting diesel truck idling that has been on the books for over a year, but is regularly ignored and violated. They held a press conference on the issue and ILWU members handed out more than 600 informational flyers to truckers at the Port of Oakland.
Local 10’s actions were part of a coordinated "Don’t Sit Idle Day of Action" by the Bay Area Ditching Dirty Diesel Collaborative, a group of 20 organizations—including the American Lung Association, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the California Department of Health Services, the Pacific Institute, Contra Costa Asthma Coalition, West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project and Bayview-Hunters Point Community Advocates— whose goal is to reduce diesel pollution regionally.
Particulate matter from diesel engine emissions, the fine black soot that pours from truck smokestacks, has been shown by various medical experts to be carcinogenic and contributes to higher rates of childhood and adult asthma, as well as other medical conditions. In portside communities like West Oakland, residents face 90 times more diesel emissions than the state average, while there are more than 350 asthma-related emergency room visits per year associated with diesel pollution in the Bay Area.
Willis was joined by Oakland City Councilmember Nancy Nadel, regional physicians and public health experts, truckers and representatives of various communities whose health has been most severely impacted by diesel emissions. Willis said his local was supporting the Day of Action’s efforts in the Bay Area because he and his fellow longshore workers are part of the community and that they are exposed to the same risks from diesel emissions at work and home as other Alameda County residents. Willis also pointed out that more state revenues must be devoted to building a cargo movement infrastructure that does not pollute the air and relies upon alternative fuels—like biodiesel or liquid natural gas—which produce far fewer emissions harmful to people’s health than petroleum-based diesel.
"We’re spending billions monthly on the unjust war in Iraq, and this money could be going towards improvements in port infrastructure, highways, rail infrastructure and other projects that allow cargo to move freely without trucks idling in our neighborhoods," said Willis. "This money could also go towards retrofitting tractors and trucks to burn biodegradable fuel."
Two days after the Day of Action, Bay Area Ditching Dirty Diesel Collaborative members persuaded California Air Resources Board (CARB) officials at a public meeting in Sacramento to close a loophole in the state idling law that permits trucks with sleeper cabs to run their engines while drivers take naps. The CARB voted unanimously Oct. 20 for the new regulation after Collaborative members illustrated the impacts of these vehicles’ emission on community health while also showing how its passage would allows truckers to conserve 160 million gallons of fuel each year statewide. One technological solution to overnight truck idling being installed at locations around California is called Truck Stop Electrification (TSE), which allows truckers to plug in to an electric grid when they park.
—John Showalter
