Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact

Milagros R. Elia

Program Manager, Climate and Clean Energy Advocacy

Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments

milagros@envirn.org

914.455.1165

Nurses Mark National Truck Driver Appreciation Week With Call for Cleaner Trucks as a Public Health Priority

[USA] — As National Truck Driver Appreciation Week begins, the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments (ANHE) is joining organizations across the country in honoring the professional truck drivers who keep our economy and our health care system moving — and calling on trucking industry leaders and manufacturers to invest in a cleaner future for the people behind the wheel and the communities along their routes.

Truck drivers perform one of the country’s most essential jobs, delivering the food, medicine, and equipment communities and hospitals rely on every day. They also spend their working lives exposed to diesel exhaust, a pollutant classified as carcinogenic. Nurses see the downstream effects of that exposure firsthand: asthma attacks, cardiovascular strain, and respiratory illness that hit hardest in communities along heavily trafficked freight corridors.

In response to National Truck Driver Appreciation Week, the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments Executive Director Katie Huffling, DNP, RN, CNM, FAAN issued the following statement: 

“Truck drivers deserve more than our gratitude, they deserve working conditions that support their health and allow them to return home safely to their families. Investing in cleaner trucks is a meaningful way to honor these essential workers while protecting children, older adults, and families in communities located near highways, warehouses, and freight corridors.”

“Nurses care for patients whose asthma, heart disease, and respiratory conditions are worsened by transportation pollution. The trucking industry and vehicle manufacturers have both the ability and the responsibility to reduce these preventable health harms. Delaying clean truck progress prolongs harmful exposures and shifts the health burden onto drivers, patients, families, and already overburdened communities.”

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The Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments is the only national nursing organization focused solely on the intersection of health and the environment. The mission of the Alliance is to support nurses in promoting planetary health and equity globally by educating and leading the nursing profession, advancing research, incorporating planet-safe practice, and influencing policy. http://enviRN.org

The post Nurses Mark National Truck Driver Appreciation Week With Call for Cleaner Trucks as a Public Health Priority appeared first on ANHE.

During National Truck Driver Appreciation Week, the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments joins people across the country in recognizing the professional truck drivers who keep our communities, economy, and health care system moving.

Truck drivers perform essential work every day. The food on grocery store shelves, medications in pharmacies, and equipment and supplies used in hospitals and clinics reach their destinations because professional drivers transport them. Their work supports nearly every part of daily life, often requiring long hours on the road and extended periods away from their families. As nurses, we believe that appreciation should be demonstrated through meaningful investments in their health, safety, and working conditions, and in the health of the communities along the routes they travel.

For generations, diesel exhaust has been treated as an unavoidable part of working in and around the trucking industry. Professional drivers may spend thousands of hours each year inside or near diesel-powered vehicles, freight facilities, warehouses, ports, and distribution centers. This occupational exposure is compounded by long hours, demanding schedules, and limited opportunities to avoid polluted air.

Diesel exhaust is classified as carcinogenic to humans. It also contains fine particulate matter and other pollutants associated with respiratory and cardiovascular harm. Nurses witness the human consequences of air pollution in clinics, hospitals, schools, and communities from children struggling to breathe during an asthma attack to adults experiencing worsening heart and lung disease.

The risks extend beyond the people behind the wheel. Communities located near highways, ports, warehouses, and heavily traveled freight corridors often face disproportionate exposure to transportation pollution. Many of these communities are already affected by cumulative environmental hazards, inadequate access to health care, and other social and economic conditions that increase their vulnerability to illness.

The good news is that we have the technology to begin changing this reality. The transition to cleaner, zero-emission trucks can reduce harmful tailpipe pollution, improve air quality, and protect the health of drivers, freight workers, and nearby communities. Clean air is a fundamental condition for protecting health and preventing disease. 

Transition to clean technologies also presents an opportunity to strengthen the trucking industry. Investments in cleaner vehicles, charging infrastructure, workforce development, and dependable supply chains can help create an industry prepared to compete in a rapidly changing global market. Drivers must be included in this process so that the technologies placed into service are safe, practical, reliable, and responsive to the conditions they encounter on the road.

Achieving a cleaner freight system will require leadership across the entire trucking sector. Truck manufacturers must fulfill their clean-vehicle commitments and make cleaner trucks available at the scale and pace necessary to reduce pollution. Fleet operators must prepare for the transition while ensuring that workers have appropriate training, workplace protections, and a meaningful voice in implementation.

Industry associations also have an important responsibility. The American Trucking Associations should help its members prepare for a healthier and more competitive future instead of opposing policies intended to accelerate clean-truck deployment. Efforts to weaken or delay protections such as California’s Advanced Clean Trucks framework risk prolonging harmful exposures for drivers and communities while creating uncertainty for businesses already investing in cleaner technology.

Accountability does not mean placing the burden of this transition on individual drivers or small operators. Policymakers and industry leaders must ensure that funding, infrastructure, technical assistance, and workforce protections are available so the transition is practical and equitable. The people who keep goods moving should benefit directly from cleaner vehicles and healthier workplaces.

National Truck Driver Appreciation Week is an important opportunity to celebrate the skill, dedication, and sacrifice of professional drivers. But appreciation cannot end when the week does. Truck drivers keep America moving throughout the year. They deserve an industry that values their health as much as their productivity and recognizes clean air as an essential workplace protection. Communities along freight routes deserve relief from pollution that has affected their health for far too long.

Nurses have a role in advancing this vision. We can educate patients and decision-makers about the health consequences of diesel pollution, support evidence-based clean-truck protections, advocate for equitable infrastructure investments, and elevate the experiences of drivers and communities most affected by freight-related pollution.

Investing in cleaner trucks is an investment in disease prevention, healthier workers, more resilient communities, and a stronger transportation system. It is also one of the most meaningful ways to recognize the people whose work connects our hospitals, businesses, and homes.

This week, we thank America’s truck drivers. For the years ahead, let us invest in their health—and ours.

The post Thanking Truck Drivers Means Investing in Their Health—and Ours appeared first on ANHE.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 

September 10, 2026

CONTACT: Katie Valentine, kvalentine@cacampaign.org, (770) 861-0397

Latino Leaders and Elected Officials Demand a Fully Funded, Fully Functional FEMA as Philadelphia Families Struggle to Recover from Historic Summer Flooding

Community Press Conference Marks Hispanic Heritage Month With a Call for Federal Action 

View the full press conference here: LINK 

PHILADELPHIA, PA — As Hispanic Heritage Month begins, Latino families across Philadelphia are still recovering from a historic summer of severe storms, waiting on federal aid that has been slow to arrive and hard to access. 

Today, community members, healthcare professionals, and elected officials gathered at Philadelphia City Hall with a clear message for Congress: stop shortchanging FEMA and build an agency that is fully funded, fully functional, and built to serve every family equitably.

The press conference comes after a summer that brought repeated severe weather events to Philadelphia, including flash flooding, destructive storms, and a microburst that caused widespread building and property damage and displacement of residents across the city. The flooding events threatened to contaminate drinking water and raised the risk of mold-related respiratory risks in homes impacted by water damage even after floodwaters receded. 

Across the Northeast, heavy rainstorms have increased by 60 to 70% since the 1960s, the largest increase of any region in the United States, and Philadelphia’s own Office of Sustainability says that the science confirms these trends are accelerating and will not reverse on their own.

“As Philadelphia marks the five-year anniversary of Hurricane Ida and is now experiencing a summer of record-breaking flash flood warnings, we are reminded that where it rains, it can flood, and every neighborhood must be prepared,” said Joseph Sullivan, Program Manager for Flood Resilience and Compliance Strategy, City of Philadelphia’s Office of Sustainability. “The City’s Flood Management Program brings together key departments to help residents understand their flood risk and access resources to prepare and recover. Critical programs like FEMA’s Community Rating System (CRS) help enhance Philadelphia’s flood resilience efforts. Through Philadelphia’s collaborative work to reduce flood risk, residents can now receive a 15 percent discount on eligible federal flood insurance policies, making this important protection more affordable.” 

“As we honor Hispanic Heritage Month, we must make sure every Philadelphia resident knows how to prepare for flooding and, when disaster strikes, can access FEMA assistance without fear or unnecessary barriers,” said Rep. Danilo Burgos. “Flooding doesn’t discriminate, and neither should our disaster response. Protecting our neighbors means making sure no family is left behind when they need help the most.”

“Our region’s Latino communities suffered the same flooding our non-Latino communities suffered this summer,” said Rep. Greg Scott. “And yet they’re struggling to get the post-disaster support that others have managed to access. A person shouldn’t suffer more or longer because resources aren’t offered in their preferred language or their neighborhood has been deprioritized. It’s time for the federal government to fully fund FEMA, provide necessary paperwork in widely-used languages, and ensure that all of our residents have equal access to aid.”

“The impacts of disaster are not experienced equally, and the response cannot be either,” said Azucena Villalobos, MSN, CRNP, FNP-BC. “We need funding that’s accessible, not just available: Spanish-speaking responders, trusted community organizations involved in the response, more community health workers embedded in community health centers who can help navigate climate-related health risks, multilingual emergency alerts that actually reach people, and resilient neighborhood centers offering cooling, clean water, and emergency support.”

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About the Climate Action Campaign

Climate Action Campaign (CAC) is a vibrant coalition driving ambitious, durable, equitable federal action to tackle the climate crisis. By cutting carbon pollution and accelerating the transition to clean energy, we will improve public health and create a more resilient economy and a more sustainable future for all.

About The Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments

The Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments is the only national nursing organization focused solely on the intersection of health and the environment. The mission of the Alliance is to support nurses in promoting planetary health and equity globally by educating and leading the nursing profession, advancing research, incorporating planet-safe practice, and influencing policy. http://enviRN.org 

The post Press Release! Latino Leaders and Elected Officials Demand a Fully Funded, Fully Functional FEMA as Philadelphia Families Struggle to Recover from Historic Summer Flooding appeared first on ANHE.

Aug. 20th, 2026

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact

Nina A. S. Juntereal, PhD, RN

Pennsylvania Nurse Advocacy Coordinator

Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments

nina@enviRN.org

267-240-8913

“Statement from ANHE on Gov Shapiro PA Executive Order Data Centers”

(PA)- On Tuesday Aug. 18th, PA Governor Josh Shapiro signed an executive order to implement the Governor’s Responsible Infrastructure Development (GRID) standards for proposed data centers in Pennsylvania.

“Nurses understand accountability because our profession depends on it. Every order, every intervention, every outcome is tracked and documented. We need the same standard applied to data center growth: strict oversight of energy demand and supply, binding protections for ratepayers, and penalties when developers fail to commit to transparency, workforce, and environmental protection,” said Nina Juntereal, Pennsylvania Nurse Advocacy Coordinator, Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments. 

Katie Huffling, Executive Director at the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments said, “This is fundamentally a health issue. Three in four Americans live with at least one chronic condition. When grid strain, propelled by data centers, drives up reliance on fossil-fuel plants, Americans living with asthma, heart disease, cancer, and other chronic conditions will feel it first and worst. Clean energy isn’t a separate issue to public health; it is public health.”

We urge PA lawmakers to build on this executive order with legislation that prioritizes clean energy investment and puts real accountability structures in place, not just for utility costs, but for the health and safety of every Pennsylvanian breathing air near these facilities.

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The Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments is the only national nursing organization focused solely on the intersection of health and the environment. The mission of the Alliance is to support nurses in promoting planetary health and equity globally by educating and leading the nursing profession, advancing research, incorporating planet-safe practice, and influencing policy. http://enviRN.org

The post Statement from ANHE on Gov Shapiro PA Executive Order Data Centers appeared first on ANHE.