Page 2 - aruba-today-20230428

A2 UP FRONT
Friday 28 april 2023
California passes 1st-in-nation emission rules for trains

Continued from Front from train pollution for far
too long, and it is my hope
They could improve air that our federal regulators
quality near railyards and follow California’s lead,”
ports. said Yasmine Agelidis, a
But some say it’s too soon lawyer with environmental
for the locomotive stan- nonprofit Earthjustice, in a
dards. Wayne Winegarden, statement.
a Pacific Research Institute Diesel exhaust is a health
senior fellow, said the rule hazard. According to Cali-
would be expensive for rail fornia regulators, diesel
companies, and increased emissions are responsible
costs will mean higher pric- for some 70% of Califor-
es for many goods that nians’ cancer risk from toxic
move by rail. air pollution. The rule would
The Association of Ameri- curb emissions on a class of
can Railroads said in a engines that annually re-
statement “there is no clear lease more than 640 tons
path to zero emissions loco- of tiny pollutants that can
motives.” enter deep into a person’s
“Mandating that result ig- lungs and worsen asthma,
nores the complexity and and release nearly 30,000
interconnected nature of tons of smog-forming emis-
railroad operations and Los Angeles skyline is seen above a train rolling near the Union Pacific LATC Intermodal Terminal sions known as nitrogen
the reality of where zero on Tuesday, April 25, 2023, in Los Angeles. Associated Press oxides. The rule would also
emission locomotive tech- drastically cut greenhouse
nology and the supporting those emissions. ward Network based at merce, San Bernardino and gas emissions from locomo-
infrastructure stand,” the Kristen South, a Union Pa- Occidental College, said other California cities. tives, by an amount akin
group wrote. cific spokesperson, said in a California needs “the stron- They run on diesel, a more to removing all heavy-du-
Freight railways are an statement the rail compa- gest, most protective in- powerful fuel than gaso- ty trucks from the state by
efficient means to trans- ny is “deeply disappointed” use locomotive regulation” line, producing green- 2030.
port the roughly 1.6 billion by the vote, adding that that sets an example for house gases and pollution It’s important to tackle
tons of goods nationwide the rule is too ambitious the nation. that is harmful for nearby emissions from a sector that
across nearly 140,000 miles for the current technology The standards would need residents. often burdens low-income
(225,308 kilometers), much and infrastructure. approval from the Biden Other states can sign on to residents and communities
cleaner than if those goods Union Pacific is working to administration to move try to adopt the California of color, and that has plans
were trucked, it said. cut greenhouse gas emis- forward. They follow rules rule if it gets the OK from to expand passenger rail,
The transportation sec- sions in part by spending $1 approved by the EPA to the Biden administration. said Air Resources Board
tor contributed the larg- billion to modernize loco- cut emissions from heavy The rule is the most ambi- Chair Liane M. Randolph.
est share of greenhouse motives and testing out en- trucks. tious of its kind in the coun- Rail companies can partici-
gas emissions nationwide gines powered by electric Locomotives pull rail cars try. pate in incentive programs
in 2020, according to the batteries, South wrote. filled with food, lumber, oil “The locomotive rule has run by the state to ease the
Environmental Protection Cecilia Garibay, a proj- and other products through the power to change the cost of transitioning to zero-
Agency. But rail only ac- ect coordinator with the railyards near neighbor- course of history for Cali- emissions locomotives, the
counts for about 2% of 50-member Moving For- hoods in Oakland, Com- fornians who have suffered agency said.q

U.S. adult cigarette smoking rate hits

new all-time low

tronic cigarette use rose, to ing bans and changes in do School of Public Health.
about 1 in 17 adults. the social acceptability of Nicotine addiction has its
The preliminary findings lighting up in public. own health implications,
from the Centers for Dis- Last year, the percentage including risk of high blood
ease Control and Preven- of adult smokers dropped pressure and a narrowing
tion are based on survey to about 11%, down from of the arteries, according
responses from more than about 12.5% in 2020 and to the American Heart As-
27,000 adults. 2021. The survey findings sociation.
Cigarette smoking is a risk sometimes are revised after "I think that smoking will
factor for lung cancer, further analysis, and CDC is continue to ebb down-
heart disease and stroke, expected to release final wards, but whether the
and it's long been consid- 2021 data soon. prevalence of nicotine ad-
Cigarette butts fill a smoking receptacle outside a federal
building in Washington, Thursday, April 15, 2021. ered the leading cause of E-cigarette use rose to diction will drop, given the
Associated Press preventable death. nearly 6% last year, from rise of electronic products,
In the mid-1960s, 42% of U.S. about 4.5% the year be- is not clear," said Samet,
By MIKE STOBBE year, with 1 in 9 adults say- adults were smokers. The fore, according to survey who has been a contribut-
AP Medical Writer ing they were current smok- rate has been gradually data. ing author to U.S. Surgeon
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. cig- ers, according to govern- dropping for decades, due The rise in e-cigarette use General reports on smoking
arette smoking dropped ment survey data released to cigarette taxes, tobacco concerns Dr. Jonathan and health for almost four
to another all-time low last Thursday. Meanwhile, elec- product price hikes, smok- Samet, dean of the Colora- decades.