Illinois has a dirty diesel problem. The fuel burned primarily by trucks and heavy equipment causes major damage to our health and climate, with the worst burdens falling on people with low-incomes and Black, Indigenous, and people of color. 

We burn it around our schools. We burn it at construction sites. We burn it on our highways near our homes, creating particulate pollution in the air that enters our bloodstream through our lungs and also pollutes our soil and water. Breathing toxic diesel pollution is linked to higher rates of premature death, cancer, heart disease, and lung health problems like asthma in kids and adults. 

Every year in Illinois, diesel engine exhaust is responsible for an estimated 416 premature deaths, 24,601 lost work days and annual costs from exposure of $4.6 billion. Illinoisans pay for the damage from diesel pollution through medical and hospital bills, costly medicine, and missed days of work or school.

Doing nothing to accelerate the adoption of electricn trucks is an environmental injustice. Due to racist public policies like urban renewal districts, redlining, and inner-city highway construction, low-income residents and communities of color are more likely to be located near diesel death zones--toxic concentrations of diesel pollution found in busy trucking corridors, bus depots, distribution hubs, and industrial areas.

Race is a greater risk factor for exposure to toxic pollution than income level. Disproportionate numbers of non-white people are exposed to potentially hazardous fine particle pollution from nearly all major U.S. emission sources, regardless of where they live or how much money they make. 

• People experiencing poverty are exposed to 35% more air pollution than the average American. 

• Non-white people are exposed to 28% more than average.

• Black people are exposed to a staggering 54% more air pollution than average. 

Where diesel was once the only option, we now have the technology to protect Illinois children and people living near busy roads, highways, and warehouses from deadly diesel pollution. We need rules in place to speed up the transition to pollution-free trucks, buses and delivery vans to save lives.

Trucks, buses, and delivery vans pump out 67% of smog pollution (nitrogen oxide emissions), 59% of the particulate matter (PM), and 36% of the greenhouse gas emissions from transportation, yet they’re only 7% of all vehicles on Illinois’ roads.Those same medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, powered by electric motors, have zero tailpipe pollution, yet all the “get up and go” power of their fossil predecessors. 

Every diesel truck, van, and bus we replace with a zero-smog, electric version, creates immediate health benefits to local communities, families, workers, and truck drivers. The urgency with which we transition to electric trucks must reflect the urgency of the health crisis caused by transportation pollution today. 

One significant step is for Illinois Governor JB Pritzker to make sure many more pollution-free trucks are available for fleets, businesses, governments and others who want to transition. 

Read more about the helpful potential policies here: