There are many reasons that powered humans’ road to dominance, but if we sit back and assess each one of them, we’ll see how none were quite as impactful as our ability to stay flexible. This flexibility allowed us to pull through some grueling circumstances, and consequentially, made us more complete on an individual level. Now, when you have such a productive system running the show, you can always expect it to produce a whole lot of ingenious by-products, and that’s exactly what it ended up giving us in technology. Even though technology arrived on the scene as a very raw concept, it was able to leave an indelible impression on the masses. The sheer potential of it had the world dreaming about space exploration, flying cars, and what not. However, while we reveled in technology’s unique dimension, we didn’t really notice the flipside. You see, by widening the horizons for human beings, the creation conveniently took our focus away from certain important factors, with a big one among them talking to our environment. Instead of being mindful in regards to affecting the overall environment, we took up a rather aggressive approach with all our burgeoning inventions and ended up causing serious harm on the said front. Luckily, the flexibility, which got us so far, is now once again proving helpful, as we try to reset our priorities. In fact, to supplement this charge, we are also currently in the process of reimagining technology’s role, but looking at a recent announcement from the Biden administration, we can safely that it needs to happen on a much bigger scale.
The Biden administration has officially introduced a rule to cut back on truck pollution. Proposed by the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), the new rule would require future trucks to reduce harmful nitrogen oxide emissions by 90 percent from current standards. At present, heavy-duty vehicles are doing the most in terms of manufacturing nitrogen oxides, so focusing on them makes sense. Assuming the new directive is implemented according to the plan, it could possibly prevent over 2,000 premature deaths every single year. Furthermore, the rule is expected to eliminate more than 6,700 hospital and ER visits within the stated timeframe, while also triggering an 18,000 cases-big drop around the asthma cases in children.
“Neighborhoods near highways, ports, and other congested areas are especially impacted by health problems and premature deaths associated with dirty diesel exhaust,” said the White House fact sheet.
Beyond the regulation, US government, in an attempt to consolidate the ripple effects emerging from such measures, is dedicating extensive resources towards the construction of a sustainable EV production and charging network.