Opinion: Time to Get Serious About Smoke
Consider that the quality of our national and global environment is attracting more attention than ever before. Public opinion polls consistently show a desire for more environmental protection, not less. American people believe there should be more regulations to protect the environment, not fewer. This public opinion is consistent with my own personal view, and probably yours, too. All of us want a clean environment.
The news is not all bad. Air quality in the United States has improved dramatically, with a 33% reduction in polluting emissions since 1970, while the economy has doubled in size during the same time period. Thanks to major advancements in engine technology, new diesel-powered trucks have made a significant contribution to improving air quality. On average, today’s truck engines emit nearly 70% less smog-forming nitrogen oxides and 90% fewer particulates than in 1987. That means, on average, it would take emissions from about eight of today’s cleaner, properly maintained trucks to equal the emissions from one truck manufactured in 1987.
But there is a problem: older and improperly maintained diesel trucks and buses belching out clouds of thick black smoke. Excessive black smoke emissions are not indicative of a clean industry or environment, so we must do more. We can start by challenging old approaches and conventional thinking. Even today, some believe that trails of black smoke streaming from dual chrome stacks is empowering. In reality, black smoke has never meant more power, only a negative image for the trucking industry. Black smoke really means inefficiency, waste and economic loss — a real “black eye.” It is an economic as well as an environmental issue, because a well-maintained truck with a clean exhaust pays for you, the industry and the environment.
