Each year, diesel-burning trucks carry billions of tons of cargo across the country, spewing pollution that warms the climate and harms people’s health.
Low-income Black and Brown communities bear the brunt of freight pollution because they’re often located near highways, ports, and shipping hubs.
Serenity Williams is with Citizens for a Sustainable Future, a nonprofit based in Tallahassee, Florida.
“In Tallahassee, we do have a lot of heavy-duty trucks going through our city, and especially through our minority communities and frontline communities on the south side of our town,” she says.
Her group is part of the Moving Forward Network. It’s a nationwide coalition calling for a zero-emission freight transportation system. That would include a transition to electric trucks powered by clean energy.
The EPA has proposed new rules for regulating truck emissions. But they’re not as strong as the coalition wants.
“For people who have to live … in the area where a lot of these vehicles are concentrated, they just want to live a happy and healthy life,” Williams says. “And to do that, we need the stronger rules so the freight industry can be held to account for what they’re producing.”
Reporting credit: Sarah Kennedy/ChavoBart Digital Media
