Environmental Health, Racial/Ethnic Health Disparity, and Climate Impacts of Inter-Regional Freight Transport in the United States

We quantify and compare three environmental impacts from
inter-regional
freight transportation in the contiguous United States: total mortality
attributable to PM2.5 air pollution, racial–ethnic
disparities in PM2.5-attributable mortality, and CO2 emissions. We compare all major freight modes (truck, rail,
barge, aircraft) and routes (∼30,000 routes). Our study is
the first to comprehensively compare each route separately and the
first to explore racial–ethnic exposure disparities by route
and mode, nationally. Impacts (health, health disparity, climate)
per tonne of freight are the largest for aircraft. Among nonaircraft
modes, per tonne, rail has the largest health and health-disparity
impacts and the lowest climate impacts, whereas truck transport has
the lowest health impacts and greatest climate impactsan important
reminder that health and climate impacts are often but not always
aligned. For aircraft and truck, average monetized damages per tonne
are larger for climate impacts than those for PM2.5 air
pollution; for rail and barge, the reverse holds. We find that average
exposures from inter-regional truck and rail are the highest for White
non-Hispanic people, those from barge are the highest for Black people,
and those from aircraft are the highest for people who are mixed/other
race. Level of exposure and disparity among racial–ethnic groups
vary in urban versus rural areas.