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Victory Timeline 3.5.03 Settlement Reached on New L.A. Shipping Terminal 8.29.02 International Clean-Fuels Partnership Formed at World Summit 5.3.02 Court Upholds National Diesel Rule 4.18.02 More Clean Buses for D.C. 2.13.02 Study Shows Diesel Fumes May Cause Asthma 2.11.02 D.C. Gets Clean Buses, Refueling Station 2.12.01 Tests Reveal Diesel Fumes High Inside School Buses 12.21.00 EPA Announces New National Diesel Rules 11.1.00 13 States Take Action to Clean Up Dirty Diesel 9.7.00 Statler Brothers Chain Agrees to Buy Alt-Fuel Trucks 4.27.00 Grocery Chains Settle Lawsuit; Will Buy Alt-Fuel Trucks 4.12.00 N.Y. State's new Clean Fuel Bus Deal

Diesel fuel has been around since the internal combustion engine was patented in 1892. The shipping and transit industries embraced this new invention, but it came with a terrible cost to human health.

At the urging of environmental groups and concerned citizens, local governments, school districts and industries have begun switching to vehicles and equipment that run on cleaner fuels. In 2001 and 2003, the Environmental Protection Agency took big steps by issuing new standards that have helped eliminate many deaths related to diesel pollution.

NRDC's Dump Dirty Diesel campaign helped achieve these goals by publicizing the problem, providing solutions and winning important victories on both small and large scales. NRDC has shown that diesel fuel comes with clear health risks but that there are clean, economically competitive alternatives to diesel, such as natural gas. Many buses and trucks have already made the switch to natural gas. The same advances in fuel and engine design that work for buses and trucks would work for heavy diesel equipment, too.

The Dump Dirty Diesel campaign started small by persuading local governments, school districts and businesses to switch to vehicles that run on cleaner fuels. On the federal level, a new national standard for diesel fuel was achieved in 2001 when the EPA announced stricter regulations. NRDC would also like to see stronger rules for diesel emissions from farm, construction and other "nonroad" equipment.

Diesel exhaust is not just a problem in the United States. The Partnership for Clean Fuels and Vehicles is a group of U.N. organizations, national governments, industry and public interest groups committed to helping countries around the world develop and implement action plans for eliminating lead and phasing down sulfur in diesel and gasoline fuels.

Diesel exhaust poses a very serious health problem both in the United States and around the world. NRDC has helped pave the way toward using cleaner and cheaper fuel alternatives, eliminating the health effects of diesel once and for all.

last revised 1/2/2009