ENE's New England Diesel Initiative
ENE established its New England Diesel Initiative in 2002 with the goal of significantly reducing health risks and global warming from diesel particulate matter emissions in New England. Exposure to diesel exhaust can cause serious cardiovascular and respiratory problems, including asthma, bronchitis, heart disease and lung cancer. More on health impact
Background
As a stakeholder participant in the development of both Connecticut’s and Maine’s Climate Action Plans, ENE worked to raise public awareness of the global warming impact of black carbon soot in diesel exhaust from heavy duty diesel vehicles in the region. ENE also brought to public attention how these emissions could be reduced by up to 90 percent in certain vehicles.
In 2004 ENE created the first statewide coalition in New England devoted to cleaning up harmful emissions from polluting diesel engines to protect public health and reduce global warming. Following its success in Connecticut, ENE formed similar coalition in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. With its partners in the state-wide coalitions ENE mobilized citizens and high school students to monitor air quality in diesel hot spots around New Haven, Providence and Boston. These monitoring events helped to galvanize interest among legislators and other key stakeholders to take action to protect the public from exposure to diesel exhaust. For more information on the important advances these coalitions have achieved, see Connecticut Alliance Against Diesel Pollution (link), the Massachusetts Diesel Pollution Solution Coalition (link), and the Rhode Island Diesel Pollution Solution Coalition (link).
