What's New
On November 8, New Jersey voters strongly supported Ballot Question 2 to clean up dirty diesel pollution across the state. The Ballot Question will allocate dedicated environmental monies to fund the clean-up plan, and will clean up the state’s entire fleet of school buses, transit buses, garbage trucks and private transit buses. The measure will reduce up to 400 tons of diesel soot pollution a year – roughly about 10 percent of diesel pollution. NJPIRG spearheaded a grassroots voter education campaign with our members by canvassing key downtown areas and polling spots on Election Day, running video Public Service Announcements (MOV 1 MB) and doing extensive press outreach. NJPIRG called on Governor-elect Jon Corzine to pledge to reduce diesel emissions by 75% over the next decade during the campaign. Governor-elect Corzine did not commit to that reduction, but he did pledge to clean up private diesel trucks.
Click here to view our Public Service Annoucement about Ballot Question 2 (MOV, 1 MB). Click the following links for a free version of Quicktime: Macs | PCs
Background
In January 2004, NJPIRG successfully convinced the New Jersey Legislature to
pass the New Jersey
Clean Cars Act which will clean up air pollution in New Jersey by reducing
automobile emissions, particularly smog-forming chemicals and air toxics emitted
by automobiles.
However, while we taken a big step towards reducing air pollution from cars,
we still need to address soot pollution from diesel trucks, construction vehicles
and school buses. Diesel exhaust is responsible for emitting a type of pollution
known commonly as soot-small particles that lodge into lung tissue and cause
a whole host of health problems. Thirteen counties in the state are out of compliance
with soot pollution standards—and we only monitor in thirteen counties. Urban
areas suffer from diesel "hot spots" and the state's fleet of 16,000 diesel
school buses expose school children every day to levels of soot pollution that
are up to 10 times the amount of soot outside the bus.
To help the state reach a health-based standard, we need to reduce the amount
of soot pollution from on-road and off-road diesel vehicles. Fortunately, there
is off-the-shelf technology that right now can reduce diesel pollution by over
90 percent. Using a combination of ultra low sulfur diesel fuel and diesel particulate
filters, we can clean up the state's fleet of school buses and publicly owned
vehicles. It is critical that private industry follows suit because new engines
will be on the road for an average of another 30 years or so, and cleaning up
private diesel trucks and buses will ultimately allow us to reach a health-based
standard of air quality.
More.
News Releases
New Jersey Voters Deliver Strong Mandate to Clean Up Diesel Pollution 11/8/05
NJPIRG Mobilizes Voters to Vote ‘Yes’ on Ballot Question Two for Cleaner Air 11/2/05
Health Professionals Endorse “Yes” Vote for Ballot Question 2 To Clean Up Diesel Pollution 9/28/05
Diesel Clean-Up Bill Signed by Gov. Codey; Funding Will Go To Ballot for Voter Approval 9/7/05
Diesel Pollution Reduction Bill Up For Full Legislative Vote on Monday; Over 30,000 Diesel Vehicles Targeted 6/24/05
New Report Finds New Jersey # 2 for Health Risk From Diesel with Every County Significantly Impacted 2/22/05
