Recently, the Biden administration finalized new regulations that would combat emissions produced by heavy-duty vehicles, such as buses and trucks. The move is part of Biden’s green energy agenda to fight climate change.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the new set of rules this past week, where officials have touted the iniatiative for imposing the strictest regulatory standards for greenhouse gas emissions. The rules will go into effect starting in 2026 for 2027 model-year vehicles. The regulations will become progressively tighter as we move into the next decade, eventually seeking zero emissions from these vehicles.
“EPA’s standards complement President Biden’s unprecedented investment in our workers and communities to reduce harmful emissions, while strengthening our manufacturing capacity for the transportation technologies of the future,” stated White House Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi. “By tackling pollution from heavy-duty vehicles, we can unlock extraordinary public health, climate, and economic gains.”
EPA Administrator Michael Reagan spoke about the “urgency” to cut emissions and fight climate change. “In finalizing these emissions standards for heavy-duty vehicles like trucks and buses, EPA is significantly cutting pollution from the hardest-working vehicles on the road,” said Regan. “Building on our recently finalized rule for light- and medium-duty vehicles, EPA’s strong and durable vehicle standards respond to the urgency of the climate crisis by making deep cuts in emissions from the transportation sector.”
Others have claimed the regulations are needed as adverse weather events are supposedly impacting the world. Apparently, this calls for truck manufacturers to reduce their emissions as a means of attaining several supposed benefits.
“With the climate crisis underway and many of our communities facing unprecedented fires, droughts and floods, it’s crucial that truck manufacturers get into the fast lane with zero-emission trucks to deliver the climate, health, and economic benefits we deserve,” said Katherine Garcia, director of the Sierra Club’s Clean Transportation for All campaign.
However, with many of the climate initiatives introduced by the Biden administration, the respective industries they impact push back. In this case, the trucking industry has hit back claiming these initiatives will create substantially higher costs.
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“Small business truckers, who happen to care about clean air for themselves and their kids as much as anyone, make up 96% of trucking,” said Todd Spencer, president of Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, an organization that represents more than 150,000 members across all 50 states and Canada. “Yet, this administration seems dead set on regulating every local mom-and-pop business out of existence with its flurry of unworkable environmental mandates.”
Furthermore, the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers President and CEO Chet Thompson andAmerican Petroleum Institute President and CEO Mike Sommers urged Congress to overturn the EV regulations.
“This is yet another example of the Biden administration’s whole-of-government effort to eliminate choices for American consumers, businesses and industries,” Thompson and Sommers stated. “There is significant uncertainty regarding the technological and infrastructure capability to comply with this rule, which may threaten the speed and cost of goods moving throughout the country.”
Moreover, some Republican lawmakers have spoken out against the Biden administration’s targeting of heavy-duty vehicles. Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) specifically stated that he would take action to rescind the standards once they were finalized.
“In the midst of sustained, crippling inflation, President Biden is choosing to add more regulatory dead weight onto our economy and our critical supply chains,” Sullivan stated. “Hard-working families across the country will pay the price if this rule is allowed to stand. The cost of this rule will be felt in the rising price of gas, bread, eggs and other life essentials.”