Going back to school in dirty diesel buses

Children deserve to ride to school in safety. Unfortunately, exhaust from the yellow buses used today can harm children’s health. And yet, as children return to their bus stops this fall, the Bush administration is considering a proposal to block implementation of stronger pollution control standards for buses.

Most school buses are powered by diesel engines. The exhaust has been linked to a host of health problems, including asthma and other respiratory ailments, cancer and even premature death. Children are particularly susceptible to the harmful effects of air pollution because pound-for-pound they take in much more air than adults and have less developed lungs and immune systems.

In particular, the soot and smog-forming pollutants from diesel buses can cause or exacerbate a variety of respiratory aliments in children, including asthma. Asthma is the most common chronic disease of childhood and a leading cause of disability among children. In 1999, as many as 3.8 million children suffered from an asthma attack.

The good news is that early in 2001 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued landmark standards to clean up diesel trucks and buses, comparable to the advent of the catalytic converter on cars several decades ago. When the standards are fully phased in, today’s rolling smokestacks will be a thing of the past. New buses will emit 90 percent less soot and 95 percent less smog-forming pollutants. The impact will be the equivalent of taking 13 million of the nation’s 14 million trucks and buses off the roads.

The anticipated health benefits are remarkable. According to the EPA, each year these new standards will prevent some 17,600 cases of acute bronchitis in children, 360,000 asthma attacks, and 386,000 cases of respiratory symptoms in children with asthma, as well as more than 8,300 premature deaths, 9,500 hospital visits, and 1.5 million lost work days. Children, the elderly and other sensitive groups would likely enjoy longer, healthier and more productive lives as a result of this improved technology.

Until recently, the administration appeared committed to ushering in the next generation of trucks and buses. In June, however, officials announced that they were considering a proposal to allow diesel engine companies to trade emission-reduction credits rather than to produce cleaner trucks and buses.

The administration floated this idea as part of a plan to reduce pollution from diesel-powered construction, industrial and agricultural equipment, such as bulldozers, forklifts and tractors. These “non-road” diesel engines are serious polluters as well, and actually emit more soot each year than the cars, trucks and buses on the roads. Current emission standards for these engines are so weak that they’re comparable to the controls on cars as far back as the late 1960s.

In order for diesel engine companies to earn emission credits to trade, the administration would have to set lenient standards for non-road diesel engines. Engine makers could then earn credits by exceeding the standards and use the credits to avoid the tough emission reductions required for trucks and buses.

Moreover, because diesel engines and fuel are regulated together as a system, the proposal could impact crucial low-sulfur diesel fuel standards as well. In other words, the administration is considering not only setting weak standards for non-road diesel engines, but actually rolling back the diesel truck and bus standards.

With the new school year under way, the administration officials should publicly reject this flawed approach and commit to fully implementing the landmark standards designed to clean up our nation’s trucks and buses. America’s children deserve to ride on buses of the future – powered by the cleanest fuels and technology available.

John Baldacci is Maine’s 2nd District congressman, Matthew Davis is New England field organizer of the U.S. Public Interest Research Group and Ed Miller is chief executive officer of the American Lung Association of Maine.