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PORTLAND, OR, CITY COUNCIL VOTES TO REPLACE PETROLEUM DIESEL WITH BIOFUELS BLEND
Dec. 12, 2022
Source: The Oregonian
Portland will phase out the sale of petroleum diesel by 2030, in its first major step to reduce carbon emissions by 50% under the city's recently adopted climate emergency plan.
The unanimous decision by the Portland City Council on Wednesday takes aim at medium and heavy trucks, the city's fourth largest source of carbon emissions, not by banning them but by shifting their fuel. Starting in 2024, petroleum diesel available for sale in Portland will be blended with renewable fuels at increasingly higher increments, until 99% of it is phased out. Keeping 1% maintains federal tax credits for blenders and wholesalers.
In addition to reducing emissions, the phase-out will reduce diesel particulate matter, also known as black carbon or "soot," which can cause asthma attacks, respiratory disease and cancer and is especially harmful to children.
The city's effort - the first in the nation - includes some concessions to the trucking and fuel industries, whose representatives said they're worried about adequate supply, especially given that Portland will restrict the use of certain alternative fuels made from feedstock with higher environmental impacts. In response to industry, the city extended the phase-out deadline to 2030 from 2026.
City leaders, including Commissioner Carmen Rubio, who oversees the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability that prepared the ordinance, heralded the phase-out, saying it would help Portland reclaim its role as a climate leader. It also will reduce pollution in low-income neighborhoods and communities of color that tend to be located in or near freeways and other polluting infrastructure where diesel particulate matter is at high concentrations.
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