Cortese Bill Targets Dirty Diesel Locomotives to Protect Communities and our Climate
SACRAMENTO – California could soon close a critical loophole allowing dirty, decommissioned diesel locomotives to keep polluting in other communities and countries. The State Assembly Transportation Committee today passed state Senator Dave Cortese’s SB 30 that would prohibit public agencies from selling, donating, or transferring older high-polluting engines.
“As Chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, I believe California should be leading the world in clean energy—not shipping our pollution problems elsewhere. But that’s exactly what’s happening when outdated diesel trains are shipped off to other countries for continued use,” says California State Senator Dave Cortese, Senate Transportation chair. “As a world leader in decarbonization in our transportation sector, we need to lead on this issue. We need to be serious about decarbonization worldwide.”
Currently California’s aging diesel trains - those once used on routes from San Francisco to San Jose that are now electrified - are being exported abroad after retirement, shifting our pollution to countries with fewer environmental safeguards. They are often shipped off and put back into operation, sometimes in disadvantaged communities that already face severe air pollution.
The majority of greenhouse gas emissions from transportation are carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions resulting from the combustion of petroleum-based products, like gasoline and diesel fuel, in internal combustion engines. Diesel exhaust contains more than 40 cancer-causing chemicals and contributes to asthma, heart disease, and climate change.
SB 30 builds on California’s landmark efforts to decarbonize transportation and reduce harmful diesel emissions, even as federal rollbacks threaten climate action nationwide.
“Diesel locomotives shouldn’t be California’s dirty export. This bill keeps them off the rails for good,” Cortese added.
Here is Senator Cortese’s opinion editorial on SB 30: Cortese: California should not be exporting dirty pollution: https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/02/13/cortese-california-should-not-be-exporting-dirty-pollution-with-diesel-trains/
Here is a recent story about diesel trains sent from California to Peru:
The current Chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, Senator Cortese has previously served as a member of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and on the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority Board, bringing a focus on regional transportation coordination.
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