SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed into law a bill prohibiting state agencies from reselling or otherwise transferring older diesel-powered rail equipment after it has been decommissioned by a public agency.
SB 30 was introduced last December by Sen. Dave Cortese (D-San Jose) in response to Caltrain’s sale of retired equipment for use to start a commuter rail operation in Lima, Peru [see “ [see “Caltrain equipment …,” Trains.com, Nov. 15, 2024]. When the bill was passed by the Senate in May, Cortese said in a press release, “I believe California should be leading the world in clean energy — not shipping our pollution problems elsewhere.” But at the time the bill was introduced, a Caltrain representative pointed out a U.S. State Department study had determined the transfer of the equipment to Lima would take 4,000 cars off the road and remove 20,000 metric tons of pollution from the air [see “Caltrain equipment sale to Peru sparks legislation …,” Trains.com, Dec. 8, 2024].
The bill bans such sales unless the diesels involved meet EPA Tier 2, 3, or 4 standards; the diesel engines are removed; or the sale is approved in a public hearing. It was one of dozens that Newsom announced he had signed or vetoed earlier this week.
So it’s better to scrap usable equipment that less affluent nations need?
Environmentalists are destructive to the environment.
They aren’t environmentalists.