Social Justice
I was pleased to see my home state jump to 14th in the nation for energy efficiency, as ranked by ACEEE’s 2018 scorecard recently. This significantly improved ranking is due in large part to Colorado’s commitment to follow California’s vehicle tailpipe standards, which require higher vehicle efficiency as well as low emissions vehicles (LEVs; electric vehicles are the most popular class).
I was equally displeased to see the Colorado Automobile Dealers Association (CADA) sue the state to prevent adoption of this standard. And perplexed by the rationale presented at a public meeting in my home town recently by Matthew Groves of CADA.
First, I found it troublesome that the presentation was littered with misinformation about electric vehicle performance, driving range and charging costs (Western Resource Advocates dispels myths here). Second, and to my utter disappointment, CADA also failed to take into account important societal benefits, which leads to my first blog question that we all should take into consideration when evaluating a product standard:
“What about our citizens, especially our most vulnerable?”
The American Lung Association provides plenty of health-related information about living near highways and the body of research is clear: Vehicle tail pipes emit significant air pollutants that can harm respiratory and cardiovascular health in a range of ways, both immediate (such as asthma attacks) and chronic (such as CPOD). The most vulnerable demographic? Children, teens and the elderly, especially those in the low-income bracket.
Consider this CADA: More than 60% of the state’s population lives along the Northern Front Range/Denver area in a dizzying collection of busy roads and highways (84% when you include all the Front Range Urban corridor; i.e., Colorado Springs and Pueblo). Air quality in Denver and the northern Front Range has steadily worsened and still doesn’t meet federal health standards.To top that off, and Colorado is the 8th fastest growing state and Denver is the 5th fastest growing large city in the U.S., so improvements without action are highly unlikely.
I think we can all agree that breathing air pollution from motor vehicles is unhealthy for everyone. But proximity matters too, and areas near high-traffic roadways often have much higher levels of pollution than neighborhoods at least 0.3 mile away. Any guess where the cheapest housing – especially in urban areas – can be found? As you might expect, it’s most often closest to the busiest highways and road ways.
Nearly one-third of Colorado’s 5.76 million citizens fall into the low-income bracket (CADA,that’s over 1.8 million people) and more than half a million of those live at or below the poverty level.I think it’s a reasonable leap to assume that a majority live within that 0.3 mile range of high pollution highways.
The American Lung Association makes clear that one of the best policy solutions to reduce traffic pollution is with cleaner fuel and vehicle standards. SWEEP documented the air quality benefits of electric vehicles in the Denver Metro and North Front Range area, and the impacts are significant: EVs effectively eliminate emissions of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) and Carbon Monoxide (CO), while also reducing Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) and Particulate Matter (PM).
Ozone pollution (created by photochemical reactions between VOC and NOx) is a primary concern in Colorado’s most populous center. Scientists pinpointed the primary sources of summertime ozone in the Denver/Northern Front Range region, and to no surprise vehicle emissions were at the top of the list.
CADA, please consider the moral ramifications of making our already weaker citizens only sicker by not taking the reasonable steps to make the air we breathe cleaner and safer. It’s not too late to make a U-turn. Emissions reductions are feasible and vehicle standards are the mechanism to reduce harmful vehicle pollution.
Thanks for your consideration. May we all breathe a little easier.
Hello colleagues, peers and friends! Introducing Kannah Considers, my new blog dedicated to viewing energy efficiency through the lens of social justice. This is where my technical background, policy development experience in product standards and personal spiritual beliefs will merge to show how seemingly simple (and sometimes controversial) energy policies can improve the lives of the most disadvantaged citizens in our society to all societal benefit. Here it goes – comments and questions welcome!