I know I'm a day late in celebrating Earth Day, but frankly, we probably should set aside more than just a day to celebrate our planet.
The first Earth Day was held on April 22, 1970, often considered the birthday of the modern environmental movement. This movement remains strong today, with more than one billion people from 192 countries planning to participate in this year’s effort.
The theme of this year’s Earth Day is Our Power, Our Planet. According to the Earth Day website, everyone around the globe is invited to “unite behind renewable energy and to triple the global generation of clean electricity by 2030.”
While it’s a day too late to participate in the official Earth Day activities, it is not too late to make sure your voice is heard. You can start by educating yourself about the environment and the impact of renewable energy.
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You can also contact your legislators and ask them to prioritize investments in renewable energy and stop the rollbacks of regulations designed to protect the environment and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
In recent years, the trucking industry has made significant strides in reducing its environmental impact. Manufacturers are producing cleaner-burning diesel engines, and fleets are investing in technologies such as aerodynamic devices, low-rolling-resistance tires, tire pressure monitoring and inflation systems, and changing operational practices, including reducing and optimizing routing, to improve miles per gallon.
And we are seeing improvements. For example, the average fleet-wide fuel economy of the trucks that were in our Fleet Fuel Study was 7.77 MPG in 2023, and the Federal Highway Administration’s fuel economy number moved from 5.85 in 2013 to 6.91 in 2022. This is real progress!
We also have fleets that are now operating trucks powered by renewable diesel, compressed natural gas (CNG) or renewable natural gas (RNG), batteries, and hydrogen fuel cells, in an even more sustainable manner.
Trucking is doing its part. And on this, the 55th anniversary of Earth Day, you can do your part by making smart energy choices whenever possible and encouraging your elected officials to further the deployment of renewable energy. It’s the least we can do for our planet.
