[NV Greens] diesel engines

[Paul Etxeberri]

EXHAUSTED
Old diesel engines kill more than 20,000 Americans a year

Particulate pollution generated by old diesel engines is killing more 
people per year than drunk driving, said a report released yesterday. 
Using data and methodologies from the U.S. EPA, the Clean Air Task 
Force and a coalition of public health groups found that more than 
20,000 Americans -- particularly those in urban areas near bus stops, 
highways, truck stops, or construction sites -- die, and more than 
400,000 visit the emergency room, each year after breathing in tiny 
particles of diesel exhaust.  While the EPA has mandated the phase-in 
of cleaner diesel engines for highway vehicles and heavy equipment 
starting in 2007, it has not addressed the 13 million such engines 
already in use, which have a lifespan of some 30 years.  The groups 
behind the report recommended requiring the upgrading of current 
engines and the use of cleaner-burning fuel.  "We do not need to 
wait," wrote Howard Frumkin of Emory University in the report's 
foreword.  "Technology is available today that can reduce particulate 
matter emissions 90 percent."  Industry groups, you'll be shocked to 
hear, decried the study.

straight to the source:  Scripps Howard, Joan Lowy, 22 Feb 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4394>

straight to the source:  The Washington Post, Shankar Vedantam, 23 Feb 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4395>

straight to the source:  San Francisco Chronicle, Associated Press, 
Devlin Barrett, 23 Feb 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=4396>

-- 
Paul Etxeberri

"Forests precede civilizations and deserts follow"   ---Chateaubriand