Spend VW settlement on electric garbage trucks
Texas is set to receive $209 million in Volkswagen settlement funds after the company was caught cheating on emissions regulations.
Governmental entities across the state are looking into potential projects that reduce nitrogen oxides, a pollutant that contributes to ozone formation — a fitting use given that VW sold diesel vehicles with pollution emissions up to 40 times that allowed by the United States.
The resulting air pollution was responsible for hundreds of early deaths and other health consequences — including in Houston, where ozone exceeds federal standards.
So it makes sense that the city of Houston submitted a $18 million proposal to the state last month to spend its share of the funds on replacing 85-year-old, diesel garbage trucks.
Their size and weight, fuel economy, and stop-and-go driving patterns make waste trucks heavy emitters of nitrogen oxides and other pollutants such as particulate matter. Because these trucks drive through our neighborhoods, Houstonians feel this pollution at home.
However, the city’s proposal is not the best it could be.
The city has asked for 71 “clean diesel” trucks and 14 compressed natural gas trucks — but no all-electric, zero-emissions vehicles.
The term “clean diesel” is a misnomer. Pollutants from diesel emissions can be reduced using technology called selective catalytic reduction, but SCR requires engine temperatures to remain over 200 degrees to effectively reduce emissions. This could be difficult to achieve given a waste truck’s stop-andgo usage.
In contrast, an all-electric waste truck emits zero tailpipe pollutants no matter the condition.
In fact, even if the city gets what it requested from the state, it won’t meet the goal it set for itself. The section on fleets in Houston’s 2016-2020 Capital Improvement Plan states: “the City must strive for at least 25 percent of non-emergency on-road vehicles purchased annually to be non-diesel or gasoline-powered (e.g., compressed or liquified natural gas, propane, electric-powered, etc.) … to reduce fuel purchases and to decrease carbon emissions.”
Houston’s waste truck proposal fails to meet this requirement because only 16 percent of vehicles proposed for purchase are non-diesel.
Switching over to electric vehicles can also save the city money despite their higher up-front costs. In Chicago, batterypowered electric waste trucks save $63 per vehicle per day in fuel costs, and they reduce carbon emissions by 68 tons.
Houston has been a leader in green energy and was honored in October by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as a Green Power Leader. Houston has the nation’s third-largest municipal hybrid vehicle fleet and has been recognized for its green light-duty fleet. Mayor Sylvester Turner, an outspoken advocate for the climate, serves as co-chair of the Climate Mayors network and has vowed to honor the Paris climate agreement. Houston should continue this commitment to clean power and transportation by using settlement funds to purchase electric waste trucks that will reduce dangerous air pollution that harms human health, helps Houston reach the federal ozone standard by reducing NOx pollution and reduce greenhouse gas emissions that leads to climate change.
Houston already feels the effects of climate change, and a group known as the Houston Climate Movement is asking for climate resiliency and carbon reductions at the city level. If the city doesn’t address its climate risk, it may face downgrades from credit rating agencies or lost economic opportunities.
It’s great that the city wants to make use of these funds to help improve air quality. We encourage the mayor and City Council to include zero-emissions electric trucks that both reduce fuel consumption and carbon emissions while providing cleaner air on our streets.
The VW Settlement is an incredible opportunity for the city, and we urge citizens to contact their City Council members and urge them to support cleaner vehicles.