The California Air Resources Board (CARB), part of the California Environmental Protection Agency, approved regulations in July 2007 and December 2008 on diesel vehicles that will limit emissions for trucks, buses, bulldozers, backhoes and other construction equipment. But according to a June op-ed in Forbes.com by Dr. Henry Miller, a Hoover Institution fellow, and ACSH Trustee Dr. James Enstrom, an epidemiologist and physicist at the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, the scientific rationale for these expensive regulations is dubious and will impose a huge economic burden on the state.
Now, CARB is planning on taking a step back from its plans for reducing air pollution, and concedes that its initial emission estimates were too high. The new proposal eliminates requirements for existing diesel-powered construction fleets to reduce emissions, which will “extend relief to businesses, particularly the construction industry, which is really suffering,” said Karen Caesar, a board spokesman.
“Californians should be grateful to the ACSH members and friends who helped shine the light of scientific evidence on the trumped-up figures originally put forth by CARB to back up their stringent, job-killing regulations. Drs. Enstrom and Miller in particular have likely saved the California taxpayers millions,” says ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross.
