Pennsylvania has the sixth largest economy in the U.S. with a GDP of 569 billion and the 17th largest economy in the world.^{2, 3} Trade supports 1.3 million jobs in Pennsylvania, and exports have grown three times faster than its GDP.⁴ These exports are valued at about $34 billion and account for six percent of the state's GDP.⁵ This trade depends on a transportation system largely powered by diesel technology.

In recent years, technological advances have brought environmental progress to the diesel industry through a new clean diesel system, combining cleaner diesel fuel, advanced engines and effective exhaust control technology. Ever since 2010 heavy-duty trucks and buses have become virtually free of PM and NOx emissions and these same clean diesel technologies are being phased in for new off-road vehicles and equipment through 2015. Existing older diesel vehicles can be retrofitted with these technologies to significantly reduce emissions while greenhouse gas emission reductions are being realized through growing use of hybridization and renewable fuels.

Approximately 68,000 diesel-powered construction vehicles are used in the state's construction industry, generating $17.8 billion and employing over 200,000 people.^{19, 20, 21}

The state's transportation system facilitates tourism which brings $32.9 billion worth of economic impact to the Pennsylvania economy. Total travel demand directly supports approximately 283,000 individuals or one in 12 jobs in the state.²²

Pennsylvania is a prominent mining state on the East Coast. Though the state produces very little oil on its own, five oil refineries process foreign crude oil, supplying the regional northeast market.²³ The state has the 13th largest mining industry in the U.S. which relies exclusively on diesel-powered equipment.^{24, 25}

Pennsylvania's 63,000 farm families continue to be the stewards of more than 7.7 million acres of farmland.²⁶ With $6.1 billion in cash receipts annually from production agriculture and total state economic contributions totaling about $61 billion, Pennsylvania's agribusinesses is a the leading economic driver in the state. Machines such as farm tractors, combines, and irrigation pumps that help produce and harvest these and other agricultural products in the state consumes about 45 million gallons of diesel fuel.^{27, 28}

Approximately 12 million distributed generation units are installed across the country, a large majority of which are diesel-powered emergency power units used primarily by customers for a small number of hours each year when grid-connected power is unavailable.²⁹ In fact, 75 percent of U.S. small business owners rate a power outage as a top threat to their business, which reinforces the crucial role of diesel as a back-up power source.³⁰

Port/Marine Traffic:

Pennsylvania ports are the eighth most active in the nation, accounting for over 90 million tons of cargo.⁶ The ports bring billions of dollars into the economy. The Port of Philadelphia handled approximately 3.6 million metric tons of cargo and accounts for roughly $660 million worth of business activity.⁷ Both the ships and the equipment used in the ports are almost exclusively diesel-powered.

Ground Transportation:

About 188 million tons of cargo is transported by rail across the state's 5,139 rail miles, the fifth largest system in the United States.⁸ Pennsylvania also has the fifth largest trucking industry in the U.S., and it the fourth largest employer in the state, providing one out of every 11 jobs in the state.^{9, 10} A majority of trucks, particularly those carrying freight across the state are diesel-powered.

Transit Buses:

Pennsylvania has a public bus fleet of over 3,000, including more than 1,454 from the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA), the nation's sixth largest transit system in the United States.¹¹ All of SEPTA's buses are diesel powered and many have been retrofitted. SEPTA also has 290 diesel electric hybrids with over 200 more on order.¹²

School Buses:

Pennsylvania's school bus fleet of about 30,000 provides transport for over 1.5 million students on a daily basis.¹³ Many Pennsylvania school buses were retrofitted to reduce emissions as early as 2004 and today the Pittsburgh Healthy School Bus Fund is providing full retrofit funding for school buses at no cost to school districts or school bus contractors.¹⁴

Air Transportation:

Aviation moves over 22 million passengers annually in Pennsylvania.¹⁵ The state's aviation industry is responsible for close to 300,000 jobs and contributes about $12.6 billion to the Pennsylvania economy annually.^{17, 18} Aviation services are critical to many industries which depend on the diesel industry such as goods movement, agriculture and emergency services.

Diesel Supports Public Health and Safety

More than 3,295 ambulances are used across the state31 and all emergency vehicles are virtually exclusively powered by diesel engines because of their durability and reliability.

Pittsburgh Fire Department responds to over 25,000 fire incidents annually and have close to 50 fire trucks and apparatus.³² The Philadelphia Fire Department runs over 100 vehicles such as engines, ladders, and boats and responds to over 54,000 fire incidents.³³

Clean Diesel Passenger Cars Available in Pennsylvania

New clean diesel passenger vehicles that meet the nation's strictest emission standards have been available in Pennsylvania since 2008.

There are approximately 146,000 diesel and 43,800 gasoline hybrid cars and pickups registered in Pennsylvania.³⁴

Nationally, if diesel vehicles made up 15 percent of the passenger fleet, they would save 17 billion gallons of fuel, 413 million barrels of oil, and 205 million metric tons of CO2 by 2038.³⁵

U.S. monthly sales of diesel cars doubled in 2010. Roughly 30 to 50 percent of consumers choose a diesel option over gasoline if it is offered for the specific vehicle they are purchasing.³⁶

Pennsylvania Policymakers Recognize the Value of Clean Diesel Technology

In October 2008 Governor Rendell signed into law an anti-idling provision for heavy-duty vehicles that do not have emission reduction equipment installed.³⁷

A biodiesel law passed in July 2008 states that Pennsylvania will invest $5.3 million annually in state biodiesel producers through 2011. The law also establishes a statewide biodiesel blend mandate tied to in-state production levels, ranging from two percent when in-state production reaches 40 million gallons and rising to 20 percent when it reaches 400million gallons.³⁸

The Small Business Advantage Program provides up to 50 percent matching grants, to a maximum of $7,500, to enable small Pennsylvania businesses to adopt or acquire energy efficient or pollution prevention equipment.³⁹

References

1 U.S. Census Bureau, http://www.census.gov/; R.L. Polk & Company, 2011; U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2009, http://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/pet_cons_prim_dcu_nus_a.htm; National Biodiesel Board, http://www.biodiesel.org; U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2009, http://www.eia.gov/oiaf/1605/state/state_emissions.html; U.S. Energy Information Association, 2009; http://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/pet_cons_prim_dcu_SVA_a.htm

2 Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Economic Accounts (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Commerce, 2009), http://www.bea.gov/regional/gsp/

3 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, http://www.pa.gov/portal/server.pt/community/work/3015

4 The Business Roundtable, Trade Makes Pennsylvania Strong, http://www.csgeast.org/pdfs/etc/PATradeReport06.pdf

5 U.S. Census, State Exports for Pennsylvania, http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/statistics/state/data/pa.html

6 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, CY 2009 Waterborne Tonnage by State, http://www.ndc.iwr.usace.army.mil/wcsc/stateton09.htm

7 Philadelphia Regional Port Authority, Press Release, February 4, 2011, http://www.philaport.com/news/newsreleases.htm#020411

8 Association of American Railroads, 2009 Railroad State Rankings (Washington, DC: Association of American Railroads, 2009), http://www.aar.org/PubCommon/Documents/AboutTheIndustry/RRState_Rankings.pdf

9 Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Economic Accounts (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Commerce, 2008), http://www.bea.gov/regional/gsp/

10 Pennsylvania Motor Truck Association, Trucking Statistics, http://www.pmta.org/about/trucking_stats.php

11 American Public Transportation Association, 2010 Transit Vehicle Database (Washington, DC: APTA, 2010)

12 Ibid

13 School Bus Fleet, State by State Transportation Statistics, School Transportation: 2008-09 School Year

14 Pennsylvania School Bus Association, Statistics, http://www.paschoolbus.org/Statistics.aspx

15 Airport Council International, North American Airport Traffic, http://www.acina.org/static/entransit/2009%20Final%20Rankings%20-%20Public.xls

16 Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Economic Accounts

17 Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, Bureau of Aviation, Pennsylvania Aviation Quick Facts, http://www.dot.state.pa.us/Internet/Bureaus/pdBOA.nsf/quickfacts?OpenPage

18 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, SCC Codes-Nonroad Model (Washington, DC: U.S. EPA, 2007)

19 Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Economic Accounts

20 Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment, Hours, and Earnings

21 The Associated General Contractors, The Key Role of Construction in Each State's Economy, http://www.agc.org/cs/state_economic_fact_sheets

22 Visit PA, Tourism Statistics, http://cdn.visitpa.com/sites/visitpa.com/files/2009%20Economic%20Impact%20of%20Travel%20Report.pdf

23 Energy Information Administration, Pennsylvania State Energy Profile

24 National Mining Association, Value and Rank of Nonfuel Mineral Production in the U.S., 2010 (Washington, DC: NMA, 2010),
http://www.nma.org/pdf/m_value_rank.pdf

25 VALUE AND RANK OF NONFUEL MINERAL PRODUCTION IN THE U.S., 2010, http://www.nma.org/pdf/m_value_rank.pdf

26 Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, About ADP,  http://www.agriculture.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/gateway/PTARGS_0_2_24476_10297_0_43/AgWebsite/Page.aspx?name=About-PDA&navid=30&parentnavid=0&pageid=9&

27 Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, Pennsylvania Agriculture: PA's Leading Economic Enterprise,
http://www.agriculture.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/gateway/PTARGS_0_2_24476_10297_0_43/AgWebsite/Page.aspx?name=Pennsylvania-Agriculture&navid=30&parentnavid=0&pageid=22&

28 Energy Information Administration, Pennsylvania State Energy Profile (EIA, 2008), http://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/pet_cons_821dsta_a_EPD0_VAF_Mgal_a.htm

29 U.S. Department of Energy, The Potential Benefits of Distributed Generation and Rate-Related Issues That May Impede Their Expansion: A Study Pursuant to Section 1817 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, February 2007

30 Will Gruver, Keeping Your Business Profitable into the 21st Century (Bloomington, MN: U.S. Power & Environment, 2007), http://www.uspowerco.com/keeping_your_business_profitable_into_21st_century.htm

31 Journal of Emergency Medical Services, JEMS 2004 Platinum Resource Guide (San Diego, CA: JEMS, 2004), http://info.jems.com/jems/2004resources/

32 City of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Fire Department, About the Bureau, http://www.pittsburghpa.gov/fire/about.htm#statTab

33 Philadelphia Fire Department, Fire Houses, http://www.phila.gov/fire/fac_and_equip/facil_firehouses.html

34 R.L. Polk & Company, 2011

35 The Martec Group, American Road: The Opportunity for Clean Light Duty Diesel Vehicles, prepared for the Diesel Technology Forum, July 2008, http://www.dieselforum.org

36 The Diesel Driver, http://www.thedieseldriver.com/2011/02/diesel-economics-2010/2/

37 Pennsylvania Office of the Governor, Press Release: Governor Rendell Signs Biofuels Development and Incentives Acts to Strengthen National Security, Spur Economic Development, July 10, 2007

38 Office of Congressman Patrick Murphy, Press Release: Pennsylvania Congressional Members Announce $2.45 Million Grant for SEPTA to Buy Hybrid Buses, June 19, 2008

39 EPA, Idling Reduction: Innovative Funding and Incentive Opportunities, http://www.epa.gov/smartway/transport/what-smartway/idling-reduction-innovative-funding.htm

40 Robb A. Barnitt, In Use Performance Comparison of Hybrid Electric, CNG, and Diesel Buses at New York City Transit, NREL/CP-540-42534 www.nrel.gov/vehiclesandfuels/fleettest/pdfs/42534.pdf