The Clean Freight Coalition — representing some of the largest trucking associations in the U.S. — is blasting efforts by more than 80 Congressional Democrats to expand California emissions standards across the nation.
Such standards, agreed to by truck and engine manufacturers under the Clean Truck Partnership, would upend the supply chain and ignore immediate, scalable solutions that reduce carbon emissions, Clean Freight Coalition executive director Jim Mullen said in a statement.
“It is disappointing that certain members of Congress are pushing a one-size-fits-all environmental agenda that fails to understand the mass diversification of the commercial vehicle industry. Setting regulatory requirements relying on technologies that are either in early demonstration phases or not fully developed, and yet to be tested and validated in the various unique real-world applications will disrupt the nation’s freight network.”
(Photo: istock)
The statement came after a Sept. 5 Democrat-led congressional letter asking the EPA to finalize the “strongest feasible Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions Standards for Heavy-Duty Vehicles – Phase 3 rules” before the end of the year.
“We encourage EPA to finalize standards that go beyond the current proposal and fully incorporate the potential for national emissions reductions highlighted by the technologies and strategies agreed to in the Clean Truck Partnership between CARB and the engine and truck manufacturers,” the legislators’ letter said. It also cited commitments by fleets such as Amazon, FedEx and Walmart to further reduce emissions.
“Congress and regulators should pursue policies that will provide immediate emission reductions, allowing zero-emission technologies to mature and the supporting infrastructure to be built out,” Mullen said.
“As examples, repealing the federal excise tax would incentivize truckers to refresh their fleets with modern greener and safer technologies, and policymakers should promote and incentivize readily available low-carbon fuel options, such as biodiesel and renewable diesel.”
Clean Freight Coalition members include the American Trucking Associations; American Truck Dealers; National Association of Truck Stop Operators; National Motor Freight Traffic Association; National Tank Truck Carriers; and Truckload Carriers Association.
