Sierra Club Urges EPA to Reject Industry Push to Weaken Life-Saving Truck Pollution Standards

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Trump's Environmental Protection Agency released a proposal that would weaken clean truck pollution standards that protect Americans from dangerous air pollution.

This weakening of EPA's heavy-duty truck pollution standards could lead to more asthma attacks, heart disease, premature deaths, and missed work and school days, particularly in communities near highways, freight corridors, ports, and warehouses.

EPA's own analysis projects the current standards will prevent more than 50,000 premature deaths, 85,000 hospital visits, and 25 million asthma attacks while dramatically reducing harmful smog- and soot-forming pollution through 2055.

In response to the EPA proposal, Katherine García, director of Sierra Club's Clean Transportation for All campaign, released the following statement:

"Clean truck standards save lives. Weakening them would mean more toxic pollution in the air and more families paying the price with their health. The Trump administration should stop catering to industry lobbyists and instead uphold EPA's mission to protect public health and the environment. The technology to meet these standards and make trucks cleaner already exists, manufacturers have said they're ready, and Americans deserve cleaner air, not another giveaway to polluters."

About the Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is America's largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit https://www.sierraclub.org.