California Republicans in Congress are trying to block a zero-emissions mandate on commercial trucks.
The state’s entire GOP House delegation signed a letter to Michael Regan, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, urging him to deny California’s waiver request to implement the Advanced Clean Fleets rule.
The letter was quoted in a news release from U.S. Rep. David Valadao. The Bakersfield congressman is leading his fellow Republicans in opposing the mandate.
“While we support efforts to reduce emissions and improve air quality, we believe this waiver is unjustified and could have significant negative impacts on our economy and the livelihoods of many Californians,” the lawmakers wrote.
They warned of price hikes for consumers if the mandate goes into effect because of higher transportation costs for the food supply chain.
The lawmakers also told Regan that the current infrastructure can’t support the widespread use of zero-emission vehicles.
“Fully electrifying the U.S. commercial truck fleet would require a staggering $1 trillion investment,” they wrote.
The lawmakers said the trucks would have to reduce their payloads to allow the extra weight of lithium-ion batteries. That means more trucks would have to haul the same amount of goods, increasing traffic, they said.
In addition to Valado, the Republican lawmakers who signed the letter are Reps. Ken Calvert, Kevin Kiley, Young Kim, Doug LaMalfa, Jay Obernolte, Michelle Steel, John Duarte, Mike Garcia, Vince Fong, Darrell Issa, and Tom McClintock.
Organizations warn against EV mandate
American Trucking Associations has opposed the mandate for electric commercial trucks. The organization said long-haul battery trucks can charge up to 10 hours and have a range of about 150 to 330 miles.
By contrast, a clean diesel truck can spend 15 minutes fueling and travel 1,200 miles before fueling again, according to the American Trucking Associations.
The new mandate would cover about 1.8 million trucks, the Institute for Energy Research said, noting California has the biggest fleet in the country.
“Electric trucks cost 50% more than diesel trucks but have lower fuel costs in California where diesel costs and taxes are among the highest in the nation,” the organization said.
But the institute said the mandate is likely to affect national supply chains when the rule is fully implemented.
The reason is that California produces a lot of the nation’s vegetables, fruits, and nuts and is the point of entry for most of Asia’s commerce, the organization said.
California Air Resources Board backs mandate
Zero emissions for commercial trucks are important for a cleaner climate, according to the California Air Resources Board.
On its website, the panel says medium- and heavy-duty vehicles create more than 20% of greenhouse emissions, even though they make up only 6% of vehicles registered in California.
