NGVAmerica Statement on American Lung Association ‘State of the Air’ Report

Report Shows Increase By Seven Million Impacted By Unhealthy Air Since 2018

Washington, DC – Dan Gage, President of NGVAmerica, released the following statement in regards to today’s ‘State of the Air’ report released by the American Lung Association:

“It’s simply unacceptable that 141 million Americans live their daily lives impacted by unhealthy air that can lead to asthma, lung cancer, heart disease and premature death. We can and must do better. It starts with getting serious about tackling air pollution in freight and passenger transportation.

“Right now, 74% of heavy-duty trucks are not certified to the latest NOx standard at a time when it’s the number one source of urban emissions. Meanwhile, with natural gas, we have a widely available, cost-effective, abundant and domestically sourced fuel that is the cleanest with almost no emissions.

“The cleanest truck engines in the world are powered by natural gas. The Cummins Westport Ultra-Low NOx engine – made in America – is 90% cleaner than the EPA’s current NOx standard and 90% cleaner than its latest available diesel engine counterpart.

“Natural gas delivers more new vehicles and far greater emission benefits for the investment than any other alternative.  No other transportation fuel is as sustainable, adaptive, and competitive across all vehicle classes. In fact, replacing 1 traditional diesel-burning heavy-duty truck with 1 new Ultra Low-NOx natural gas heavy-duty truck is the emissions equivalent of removing 119 traditional combustion engine cars off our roads.

“Our goal at NGVAmerica is to ensure that every American will wake up in neighborhoods with clean air by 2025, and natural gas vehicles get us there.

“Clean air starts with clean trucks and buses fueled by natural gas.”