The resolution calls for less sulfur to be put into gasoline.
Chicopee Mayor Michael Bissonnette. CHICOPEE – With three highways running through the city, Mayor Michael D. Bissonnette took the lead to support a national proposal to reduce pollutants coming from automobiles.
The U.S. Conference of Mayors last week unanimously adopted a resolution to support cleaner gasoline and improved emission standards which has been proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency. The vote was taken during its annual meeting in Las Vegas.
As vice chairman of the committee on the environment for the council Bissonnette said he was asked to help sponsor the resolution. He with about two dozen mayors from other cities, including Holyoke Mayor Alex B. Morse proposed it at the conference, which is made up of about 1,300 mayors from cities with a population of more than 30,000.
This week he was praised by the American Lung Association for supporting their environmental efforts.
The proposal called Tier 3 Cleaner Gasoline and Vehicles Standards calls for a reduction in the allowable levels of sulfur in gasoline. It also calls for cars to be manufactured with higher emissions standards, said Janice Nolan, assistant vice president for national policy for the American Lung Association.
If adopted, the changes would raise the cost of gasoline by less than 1 cent a gallon. Upgrading emissions on newly-manufactured vehicles will cost less than $150 per vehicle. The technology already exists for both improvements, she said.
“It would be the equivalent of taking 33 million cars off the road,” she said.
With three highways converging in Chicopee, Bissonnette said he felt it made sense to sponsor the proposal.
“Car emissions have an effect on people who have asthma and lung problems," Bissonnette said, adding he understands the issue is even more important to him because two of his sisters have died from lung cancer.
In addition, reducing the consumption of gasoline and the country's dependence on fossil fuels can ease a national security issue that risks the lives of men and women serving in the military, he said.
Over the past decade, thousands of military troops based in Westover Air Reserve Base in Chicopee have been sent to Iraq and Afghanistan as well as other countries to support wars. In addition five men from Chicopee have been killed in the two wars since 2005.
Bissonnette has been working closely with the Environmental Protection Agency over the past few years mainly on efforts to find creative and less-expensive solutions for cities mandated to reduce the amount of sewage being dumped into waterways across the country.
The resolution also received support from Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and Cambridge Mayor Henrietta Davis.