WASHINGTON - April 21 - Statement by Deborah Sivas, Director and Managing Attorney, Earthjustice Environmental Law Clinic at Stanford

"NAFTA requires that nations doing business in the United States obey our environmental protection laws. If the Bush administration wants to allow these polluting diesel trucks free rein on US highways they must first tell us how high an environmental price all Americans, especially those living in border states, will pay. Many communities near the border, including California's Imperial Valley and the Los Angeles basin, are already suffering from terrible air pollution levels and they shouldn't be subjected to the increased asthma and cancer risks posed by diesel pollution. Thousands of dirtier trucks plying our highways each day will undermine the work of local air districts to clean up the air and will place an extra burden on our factories and power plants to compensate. At a minimum, the Bush administration owes Americans a plan to bring Mexican trucks up to code."

Deborah Sivas filed an amicus brief in defense of US clean air standards with the Supreme Court. View that brief here: http://www.earthjustice.org/news/documents/4-04/DOTvPublicCitizen_Amici.pdf

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