Texas Clean Air Matters

It’s Actually OUR Honor to be an EPA SmartWay Affiliate!

By / Bio / Published: April 27, 2015
txcam pic 4.27.15

Cheryl Bynum, National Program Manager at US EPA, SmartWay, presents the 2015 Affiliate Challenge Honoree award to Environmental Defense Fund.

EDF has long been a champion of the SmartWay program, EPA’s highly successful public-private partnership between more than 3,000 organizations that are committed to improved fuel efficiency and environmental performance. So we were thrilled when EPA named us a 2015 Affiliate Challenge Honoree for our efforts to promote the program in our Green Freight Handbook.

We were recognized last week at the Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA) conference, and we will participate in a virtual awards ceremony tomorrow. We have impressive company: the American Trucking Association, Penske, TIA, Wisconsin Clean Cities, and the North Central Texas Council of Governments were all named as honorees as well.

The program has helped facilitate positive results in many areas, perhaps most impressively in the goods movement sector. Read More »

Also posted in Environment, Transportation / Read 2 Responses

Texas, Remember to Start Your Green Freight Journey with EDF

By / Bio / Published: January 9, 2015

Driver HandsakeCompanies don’t traverse the Green Freight Journey in one day. But there is one day next week where shippers can begin down the path by learning about the five-step framework for freight optimization projects. We first highlighted this webinar opportunity and how Texas is poised to gain from sustainable freight strategies last month, and now is the perfect time for companies to consider how they can take advantage of best practices and proven tools to reduce operating costs and greenhouse gas emissions.

Every company that uses the freight system to move products to market has the opportunity to embark on the Green Freight Journey. Join EDF on January 14 at 11am CST for a webinar that will introduce you to the Green Freight Journey framework, review real-world case examples, and highlight tools EDF is making available to help companies progress on their journey.

Read More »

Also posted in Transportation / Comments are closed

New Drayage Trucks – at Half the Price (and the Pollution)? It’s True!

By / Bio / Published: October 27, 2014
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Source: flickr.com/photos/truckpr

Calling all heavy-duty truck owners who work at the Port of Houston! Cold, hard cash is available for the purchase of new trucks that are more fuel-efficient and cleaner-burning, providing up to 80 percent of the cost of a new truck.

The Houston-Galveston Area Council (HGAC) will be hosting a Drayage Truck Event at the Port of Houston on Saturday, November 1, from 10:00am to 1:30pm, to share information about available grants and loans in order to help owners replace older, dirtier vehicles with new, cleaner ones (see how others have taken advantage of these opportunities in the past).

Why is funding like this available to help someone pay for a new truck? By replacing an older truck with a new one, we all benefit from improved air quality. These benefits include:

  • better health, since cleaner air reduces the onset of asthma and cancer and helps avoid the loss of work and schooldays, and
  • economic advancement, as these programs help the state and city progress towards meeting critical air quality standards. Read More »
Also posted in Air Pollution, Drayage, Houston, Ports, Transportation / Read 2 Responses

Ten Years of SmartWay: Nearly Seventeen Billion Saved in Fuel Costs and Counting

By / Bio / Published: May 1, 2014

EPA SmartWay 10This year Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is celebrating the 10 year anniversary of its SmartWay program, a voluntary program created to help freight companies move more goods across more miles without the extra emissions. Texas boasts more than 180 SmartWay partners and affiliates, including Dell, AT&T, and BNSF Railway to name a few, that have made a commitment to improve fuel efficiency, reduce diesel consumption, and increase sustainability along transportation routes. These pledges have turned into action as SmartWay partners across the nation have saved $16.8 billion in fuel costs, reduced oil consumption by more than 120.7 million barrels, and reduced 51.6 million metric tons of carbon dioxide across the nation – that’s equivalent to taking over 10 million cars off the road every year. Read More »

Also posted in Air Pollution, Environmental Protection Agency, SmartWay, Transportation / Comments are closed

Clean Air and Sustainability Are Important Topics for Transportation Researchers

By / Bio / Published: January 23, 2014
(Source: Texas Public Radio)

Source: Texas Public Radio

Air pollution and sustainability may not have been hot topics for transportation professionals in the past, but they were widely discussed during the 93rd Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board (TRB), a conference that brings together transportation professionals from around the world. And as we have highlighted in the past, air emissions from the transportation sector are of particular concern in Texas, and many at the conference took note of the state’s progress.

For instance, one panel highlighted efforts to reduce costly cargo truck delays at various Texas-Mexico border crossings. These truck delays occur due to a myriad of reasons, including rush-hour transit times and customs issues, but a recently launched initiative known as the Border Crossing Information System, or BCIS, is aiming to shorten these delays through accurate monitoring and reporting of truck queues and, in turn, reduce harmful air emissions. Read More »

Also posted in Air Pollution, Houston, Ports, Transportation / Tagged | Comments are closed

Clean Truck Initiatives Hit The Road In Texas And Make A Personal Impact

By / Bio / Published: October 16, 2013

Para leer este artículo en español, haga clic aquí.

Courtesy of Juan Manuel Salazar

The following story about the clean truck program in Houston appears in the Fall 2013 issue of EDF’s Solutions newsletter. As we have highlighted before, ports are hotspots for air pollution and the best way to mitigate emissions from ships, trucks and other transportation equipment is to engage key stakeholders and find common sense solutions that provide access to cleaner, more efficient technologies. Below is a success story from Houston: Since the H-GAC Drayage Loan Program began in 2010, it has replaced almost 200 of the oldest, most polluting trucks with newer, cleaner ones. 

When Juan Manuel Salazar was hauling industrial materials all over Houston in his 1989 International truck, his two daughters worried. “They were concerned about me driving all day, then working half the night to fix the truck,” Salazar says. So it was no surprise that, as an owner-operator, Salazar jumped to qualify for a combined grant and low-interest loan program tailored by EDF and its partners such as the Houston-Galveston Area Council (H-GAC). Salazar invested in a cleaner 2012 Kenworth truck that uses less gas and goes farther without problems. “My daughters convinced me,” he says.

A few years before, an emissions inventory found that one-third of the toxic air pollution at the Port of Houston was spewed out by its 3,000-truck drayage fleet. The result was the loan program. Since its creation, almost 200 trucks in Houston have been updated. Read More »

Also posted in Clean Car Standards, Drayage, En Español, Houston, SmartWay, Transportation / Comments are closed