{"id":21392,"date":"2021-10-14T16:00:36","date_gmt":"2021-10-14T20:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/?p=21392"},"modified":"2022-07-06T12:35:38","modified_gmt":"2022-07-06T16:35:38","slug":"new-mapping-tool-could-help-communities-policymakers-prioritize-clean-transportation-solutions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2021\/10\/14\/new-mapping-tool-could-help-communities-policymakers-prioritize-clean-transportation-solutions\/","title":{"rendered":"New mapping tool could help communities, policymakers prioritize clean transportation solutions"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/em>My children\u2019s daycare, which is on a commercial strip between supermarkets and restaurants, often has three refrigerated trucks idling outside the front door. These diesel trucks can emit harmful pollution, even when they aren\u2019t moving. The impact of transportation pollution on vulnerable populations is often striking. In downtown Oakland, where more than 70% of the population are people of color, one in two<\/a> new cases of childhood asthma are attributed to transportation pollution.<\/p>\n

Companies are being questioned<\/a> about the impacts that truck-attracting facilities like warehouses<\/a> are having on local communities. The pressure will only increase as e-commerce and distribution facilities expand right by population centers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Now, a new methodology from Environmental Defense Fund called Proximity Mapping helps identify the communities living close to warehouses and distribution facilities \u2014 businesses that are often truck magnets. The tool integrates social, demographic and health information for people living within half a mile of a truck-attracting facility. As a result, the tool can visualize the disproportionate proximity of low-wealth communities and Black, Asian-American, Latino and Indigenous communities to areas where trucks gather and provide additional data support to an issue that many communities have been raising for decades<\/a>. It also shows that, when compared to state and national averages, some communities living around truck areas disproportionately suffer from health conditions that can be made worse by pollution from trucks, such as asthma, chronic heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and stroke.<\/p>\nNew mapping tool could help communities, policymakers prioritize clean transportation solutions <\/a><\/span>Share on X<\/a><\/span>\n

Neighbors are at risk<\/strong><\/p>\n

The unequal danger from diesel trucks is more visible than ever. Despite being only 4% of the registered vehicles in the U.S., diesel vehicles are responsible for 60% of the air quality health impacts<\/a> from all cars and trucks. Because of redlining, racist highway construction and other policies and practices, warehouses were built beside and inside Black and Latino communities, with dangerous consequences. Regardless of their state or income, Black residents are exposed to 26% higher<\/a> levels of soot from heavy-duty diesel trucks than the national average. Once exposed, they are then at a three times higher risk of dying<\/a>.<\/p>\n

EDF used a commercial database to identify warehouse locations. We then assessed the demographics and health status of surrounding communities. This analysis confirmed what warehouse neighbors have been saying about the disproportionate risk from warehouses.<\/p>\n