The data on the environmental and health impacts caused by the exhaust from diesel combustion are becoming clearer all the time, and the news is not good. As the Clean Air Task Force (www.catf.org) reported in February, the fine particles emitted by diesel combustion shorten the lives of 21,000 U.S. citizens each year, a figure that includes 3,000 premature deaths from lung cancer. Based on a study by Abt Associates (Cambridge, Mass.; www.abt associates.com), the Clean Air Task Force concluded that reducing diesel pollution at a rate of 50 by 2010, 75 by 2015, and 85 by 2020 would save nearly 100,000 lives between now and 2030.
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