Diesel Fuel

Metrolink fares will increase an average of 5.5% beginning Tuesday to help pay for rising fuel costs. The rate hike is expected to generate about $3 million in additional revenue for the rail operator, officials said. Diesel fuel costs are almost $4.8 million more than the agency allocated for the current fiscal year. "We did not anticipate diesel fuel doing what it did this year," said Denise Tyrrell, a Metrolink spokeswoman. "We budgeted for $2.50 per gallon, and now it's over $4.50 a gallon.

Two decades ago, Rosa Vielmas, young and hopeful, moved to Riverside County for cleaner air. Goodbye to smoggy East Los Angeles. Hello to Mira Loma, an unincorporated speck of a village, and a one-story stucco bungalow with a yard. "We could see the stars," she recalled. But that was before Mira Loma became one of Southern California's "diesel death zones," as activists call the truck-choked freeways and distribution hubs that fan out from the massive ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

Two decades ago, Rosa Vielmas, young and hopeful, moved to Riverside County for cleaner air. Goodbye to smoggy East Los Angeles. Hello to Mira Loma, an unincorporated speck of a village, and a one-story stucco bungalow with a yard. "We could see the stars," she recalled. But that was before Mira Loma became one of Southern California's "diesel death zones," as activists call the truck-choked freeways and distribution hubs that fan out from the massive ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the nation's busiest seaport complex, are proposing an "unprecedented" overhaul of dockside trucking that officials say would slash diesel pollution from trucks by 80% in five years while improving domestic security and working conditions for drivers.

Prepare for congestion -- even more than usual -- on the Harbor Freeway this morning. Beginning at 8 a.m., a convoy of 100 diesel trucks plans to travel southbound in one lane of the freeway from South Los Angeles near Exposition Park, and then cross the Vincent Thomas Bridge to the Port of Long Beach, a trip expected to take about two hours. The convoy will be led by a hearse, which symbolizes premature deaths caused by pollution emitted at the port. "It could cause traffic headaches.

Diesels are catching the interest of more economy-conscious car buyers in the U.S. In a recent survey by J.D. Power & Associates, the percentage of new-car shoppers who said they would consider buying a diesel-powered vehicle rose to 23% from 12% a year ago, while the portion who said they would consider a gasoline-electric hybrid slipped from 57% to 50%. Surveys by Kelley Blue Book have shown a similar trend.

The Los Angeles Harbor Commission on Thursday unanimously approved a phased ban of old-model trucks, a move that is expected to reduce harmful diesel emissions by 80% within five years but also ignite controversy among shippers, drivers, trucking companies and environmentalists.

Retail gasoline prices in California and most of the nation were little changed in the last week, but diesel fuel hit a record high, the Energy Department said Monday. The average price for a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline in California rose 0.3 of a cent to $3.398 and the U.S. average slipped 0.2 of a cent to $3.097, according to the Energy Department's weekly survey of service stations. Compared with this time last year, the California pump price was up nearly 91 cents and the U.S.

Diesel fuel prices have been on a record-setting streak, rising 20% since August and rivaling the cost of premium gasoline at the pump. Expensive diesel has truckers steamed. And the cost is forcing several industries to raise their prices or make fundamental changes in the way they do business. One downtown Los Angeles company, for instance, is replacing all of its heavy machinery at a cost of millions of dollars. Diesel reached an inflation-adjusted record in the U.S.

When a study of the health effects of air pollution at a rail yard in rural Placer County turned up evidence of dramatically high cancer risk from diesel-burning locomotives, air regulators, railroads and residents near rail yards across California were jolted into action. "It was a bombshell," said Sam Atwood, a spokesman for the South Coast Air Quality Management District, which with 19 freight rail yards in the Los Angeles Basin has the largest concentration in the state.