Health and social costs of cheap DVDs, sneakers, and plasma TVs: A public health and environmental justice perspective

Since 2004 the Ditching Dirty Diesel Collaborative (DDDC) has been fighting for healthy, empowered communities and the right to breathe clean, unpolluted air in the San Francisco Bay Area. As part of its work, the DDDC has focused extensively on the impacts of freight transport, also known as “goods movement,” which includes that complex system of ships, cranes, trucks, trains, distribution centers and airplanes that move towels to Topeka and big screen TVs to Boise. Freight transport is fueled primarily by diesel, and diesel pollution is a major contributor to poor air quality and has major public health impacts, including asthma, cancer and poor quality of life. Additionally, low-income communities and/or communities of color often face a disproportionate burden of pollution from diesel, with sources such as ports, rail yards, and truck stations situated right near residential areas and other sensitive sites. Research conducted by the DDDC shows that these heavily impacted communities and the public in general are subsidizing freight transportation with their health. In California alone, freight transport will cost residents billions in health costs, including death, illness, and missed school and work, and most of this is borne by low-income communities of color near freight transport hubs. Solutions do exist, however, and the costs of cleaning up pollution are only a fraction of the benefits derived from the transport of freight. Community representatives, and environmental justice and public health advocates have an important role to play in such advocacy at the local, regional and state levels.