2023/04/27
PepsiCo, one of the first companies to have a commercial fleet featuring the Tesla Semi electric truck, hosts an event at its Sacramento facility for the arrival 18 new trucks on Tuesday, April 11, 2023. - Hector Amezcua/The Sacramento Bee/TNS
California’s leading air quality regulator will soon vote on whether to ban the sale of new diesel big rigs by 2036 and switch all trucks in the state to zero-emission by 2042, unprecedented rules that would transform California’s trucking industry.
Trucking companies and local governments warn the California Air Resources Board that the mandates would be unachievable as environmental justice advocates laud the ambitious regulation they helped shape. After a final public hearing on Thursday, a vote is expected Friday.
“This is a first-of-its-kind requirement that will ensure industry has the certainty as to where California is going, which is zero,” said Sydney Vergis, CARB chief of transportation pollution. “It will help ensure that private infrastructure providers have certainty that should they decide to invest in California, there will be a market for them.”
By mandating the purchase of electric or hydrogen-powered trucks over time, the proposal aims to drastically reduce greenhouse gas pollution and harmful diesel exhaust generated by the 1.8 million medium- and heavy-duty trucks on California roadways.
The Advanced Clean Fleets rule builds on a 2020 rule to mandate electric truck production, and is considered a linchpin in California’s efforts to combat climate change by improving air quality and transitioning to a carbon neutral economy powered with clean energy by 2045.
Adding millions of pollution-free trucks to the road over the next decades would also improve public health, proponents argue. But industry critics say many zero-emission trucks rely on new and expensive technology, not to mention a high-capacity charging network that doesn’t yet exist.
California’s leading air quality regulator will soon vote on whether to ban the sale of new diesel big rigs by 2036 and switch all trucks in the state to zero-emission by 2042, unprecedented rules that would transform California’s trucking industry.
Trucking companies and local governments warn the California Air Resources Board that the mandates would be unachievable as environmental justice advocates laud the ambitious regulation they helped shape. After a final public hearing on Thursday, a vote is expected Friday.
“This is a first-of-its-kind requirement that will ensure industry has the certainty as to where California is going, which is zero,” said Sydney Vergis, CARB chief of transportation pollution. “It will help ensure that private infrastructure providers have certainty that should they decide to invest in California, there will be a market for them.”
By mandating the purchase of electric or hydrogen-powered trucks over time, the proposal aims to drastically reduce greenhouse gas pollution and harmful diesel exhaust generated by the 1.8 million medium- and heavy-duty trucks on California roadways.
The Advanced Clean Fleets rule builds on a 2020 rule to mandate electric truck production, and is considered a linchpin in California’s efforts to combat climate change by improving air quality and transitioning to a carbon neutral economy powered with clean energy by 2045.
Adding millions of pollution-free trucks to the road over the next decades would also improve public health, proponents argue. But industry critics say many zero-emission trucks rely on new and expensive technology, not to mention a high-capacity charging network that doesn’t yet exist.
Shifting gears to zero
Despite making up just 7% of the vehicles on California roads, big rigs are the single largest source of vehicle air pollution. Freight trucks moved 8.3 million tons of goods in 2022 worth $1.2 billion, Department of Transportation data show, in an industry that could reach $7 billion in revenue by 2025.
The engines of those trucks emit about 70% of smog-forming nitrogen oxides and 80% of carcinogenic diesel soot, according to the air board. Much of that industrial pollution is felt most acutely in communities that live closest to ports and warehouses, including the southern Central Valley, Los Angeles County and the Inland Empire.
In a bold move that leaves no room for combustion engine truck sales just over a decade from now, CARB’s new rule would forbid truck manufacturers from selling any non-zero emission vehicle starting in 2036.
The rule would first kick in for drayage trucks, which move cargo between ports and warehouses up and down the state. Existing diesel vehicles can operate for several more years, but any new vehicles must be zero emission beginning 2024 and all must be converted to electric by 2035.
A requirement to switch existing trucks to zero emissions by 2042 would also apply to groups of 50 or more owned and operated by companies with more than $50 million in annual revenue, called “high-priority fleets,” as well as federally owned trucks.
That includes both heavy duty big rigs weighing 8,500 pounds or more as well as lighter vehicles that include package delivery vans operated by the U.S. Postal Service, UPS and Amazon.
Requirements for public agencies such as fire departments and water agencies would also approach rapidly. Truck-owning agencies must make half of their truck purchases zero emission by 2024, ramping up to 100% by 2027, but emergency vehicles are exempt.
Air board officials expect the rule could put some 510,000 zero-emission vehicles on the road by 2035, reaching 1.7 million in 2050. CARB estimates the change would generate $26.5 billion in health benefits, from reduced rates of asthma attacks and emergency room visits for example, and $48 billion in savings for truck owners on lower operation and maintenance costs.
Some exemptions apply if entities can show a lack of available models. The agency will track implementation by requiring fleet owners to register trucks in an online system.
‘Impossible’ to comply?
Both trucking companies and local governments have emerged as key critics of the regulation.
They argue timelines are difficult to meet given a limited availability of zero-emission trucks and a dearth of adequate charging infrastructure. Air board leaders have said they expect private and public investment in charging infrastructure to grow over time.
Members of the trucking industry say the regulation could create serious problems in California’s already strained supply chain. Increased prices and less availability of certain commodities are likely ahead, said Chris Shimoda, senior vice president of the California Trucking Association.
© The Sacramento Bee
Feinstein resignation calls grow after Manchin sides with GOP on pollution rule
Jessica Corbett, Common Dreams
April 27, 2023, 2:03 PM ET
Senator Dianne Feinstein during an event in 2020. (Senate Democrats/Flickr)
U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein is facing fresh calls to resign after her extended absence—and Sen. Joe Manchin's inclination to partner with Republicans—led to the Wednesday passage of a resolution to roll back Biden administration emissions standards for heavy-duty trucks.
In a 50-49 vote, Manchin (D-W.Va.)—a fossil fuel industry beneficiary known for obstructing his own party's priorities, particularly on climate policy—joined all Senate Republicans to narrowly pass the Congressional Review Act resolution, which the White House has said President Joe Biden will veto if it is also approved by the GOP-controlled House of Representatives.
Feinstein (D-Calif.), an 89-year-old who plans to retire when her term expires in January 2025, has been away from Capitol Hill since late February recovering from shingles. She has already faced pressure to step down because without her vote on the Senate Judiciary Committee, the GOP can block Biden's judicial nominees—and Republicans have prevented Democrats from temporarily replacing her on the panel
"Because Sen. Feinstein was absent, the Senate overturned a Biden rule that would cut pollution from heavy-duty trucks and causes harm to people's lungs. We are putting decorum over democracy and our values. It's time for Sen. Feinstein to step down gracefully," Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) said Thursday morning.
Khanna—who is supporting Congresswoman Barbara Lee, one of three California Democrats running to fill Feinstein's Senate seat next year—is one of a handful of House Democrats who have previously called for the veteran lawmaker to step down.
Democratic strategist and communications consultant Sawyer Hackett similarly said Wednesday night that "Feinstein's refusal to resign negates the expanded Senate majority Democrats overcame tremendous odds to achieve."
"Republican measures are passing in a Democratic Senate," Hackett stressed. "Step down."
Also emphasizing the Senate GOP's power under current conditions, San Francisco-based immigration attorney Jeremy Rosenberg tweeted: "Unconscionable. Yet completely avoidable. It's past time for Sen. Feinstein to step down."
Rosenberg further noted that if Feinstein were to acquiesce to resignations demands, Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom would be responsible for selecting her replacement.
While calls for Feinstein to exit the Senate mounted, Manchin came under fire as "a one-man pollution machine" for what one reporter described as his "warpath against his own party."
Echoing Senate Republicans, Manchin claimed Wednesday that "the Biden administration wants to burden the trucking industry with oppressive regulations that will increase prices by thousands of dollars and push truck drivers and small trucking companies out of business," and warned against enabling the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to "continue to seize unrestrained power."
As Roll Calldetailed Wednesday:
The EPA's nitrogen oxide (NOx) rule, finalized in December, requires heavy- and medium-duty vehicles starting in model year 2027 to meet the "most stringent" emissions reduction option first proposed by the agency a year ago.
Nitrogen oxides are produced from fuel burning and mix with other pollutants in the atmosphere to create smog and acid rain. High levels of smog have been linked to respiratory diseases and asthma. The EPA estimates that the rule will reduce NOx emissions from the heavy-duty truck fleet by 48 percent by 2045.
If the most ambitious goals outlined in the rule are met by 2045, the EPA projects that early onset asthma cases among children will decline by 18,000 per year and premature deaths will go down by 2,900 annually.
Evergreen Action highlighted in a series of tweets that "heavy-duty vehicles are a MAJOR source of NOx pollution that contributes to negative health impacts like lung and heart diseases—and are especially harmful to low-income, Black, and Brown communities that live near major roads and ports."
"Meanwhile, many automakers have already committed to transitioning to zero-emissions vehicles, and the cost of electrifying heavy-duty vehicles is getting cheaper every year," the group added. "The Biden administration has also already committed to vetoing the resolution if it passes the House, but it is still shameful to see Republicans trying to undermine the right of every American to breathe clean air."
Jessica Corbett, Common Dreams
April 27, 2023, 2:03 PM ET
Senator Dianne Feinstein during an event in 2020. (Senate Democrats/Flickr)
U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein is facing fresh calls to resign after her extended absence—and Sen. Joe Manchin's inclination to partner with Republicans—led to the Wednesday passage of a resolution to roll back Biden administration emissions standards for heavy-duty trucks.
In a 50-49 vote, Manchin (D-W.Va.)—a fossil fuel industry beneficiary known for obstructing his own party's priorities, particularly on climate policy—joined all Senate Republicans to narrowly pass the Congressional Review Act resolution, which the White House has said President Joe Biden will veto if it is also approved by the GOP-controlled House of Representatives.
Feinstein (D-Calif.), an 89-year-old who plans to retire when her term expires in January 2025, has been away from Capitol Hill since late February recovering from shingles. She has already faced pressure to step down because without her vote on the Senate Judiciary Committee, the GOP can block Biden's judicial nominees—and Republicans have prevented Democrats from temporarily replacing her on the panel
"Because Sen. Feinstein was absent, the Senate overturned a Biden rule that would cut pollution from heavy-duty trucks and causes harm to people's lungs. We are putting decorum over democracy and our values. It's time for Sen. Feinstein to step down gracefully," Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) said Thursday morning.
Khanna—who is supporting Congresswoman Barbara Lee, one of three California Democrats running to fill Feinstein's Senate seat next year—is one of a handful of House Democrats who have previously called for the veteran lawmaker to step down.
Democratic strategist and communications consultant Sawyer Hackett similarly said Wednesday night that "Feinstein's refusal to resign negates the expanded Senate majority Democrats overcame tremendous odds to achieve."
"Republican measures are passing in a Democratic Senate," Hackett stressed. "Step down."
Also emphasizing the Senate GOP's power under current conditions, San Francisco-based immigration attorney Jeremy Rosenberg tweeted: "Unconscionable. Yet completely avoidable. It's past time for Sen. Feinstein to step down."
Rosenberg further noted that if Feinstein were to acquiesce to resignations demands, Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom would be responsible for selecting her replacement.
While calls for Feinstein to exit the Senate mounted, Manchin came under fire as "a one-man pollution machine" for what one reporter described as his "warpath against his own party."
Echoing Senate Republicans, Manchin claimed Wednesday that "the Biden administration wants to burden the trucking industry with oppressive regulations that will increase prices by thousands of dollars and push truck drivers and small trucking companies out of business," and warned against enabling the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to "continue to seize unrestrained power."
As Roll Calldetailed Wednesday:
The EPA's nitrogen oxide (NOx) rule, finalized in December, requires heavy- and medium-duty vehicles starting in model year 2027 to meet the "most stringent" emissions reduction option first proposed by the agency a year ago.
Nitrogen oxides are produced from fuel burning and mix with other pollutants in the atmosphere to create smog and acid rain. High levels of smog have been linked to respiratory diseases and asthma. The EPA estimates that the rule will reduce NOx emissions from the heavy-duty truck fleet by 48 percent by 2045.
If the most ambitious goals outlined in the rule are met by 2045, the EPA projects that early onset asthma cases among children will decline by 18,000 per year and premature deaths will go down by 2,900 annually.
Evergreen Action highlighted in a series of tweets that "heavy-duty vehicles are a MAJOR source of NOx pollution that contributes to negative health impacts like lung and heart diseases—and are especially harmful to low-income, Black, and Brown communities that live near major roads and ports."
"Meanwhile, many automakers have already committed to transitioning to zero-emissions vehicles, and the cost of electrifying heavy-duty vehicles is getting cheaper every year," the group added. "The Biden administration has also already committed to vetoing the resolution if it passes the House, but it is still shameful to see Republicans trying to undermine the right of every American to breathe clean air."
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