Rules for electric trucks while electric infrastructure does not yet exist make no sense: Truck and Engine Manufacturers
The EPA’s virtual public hearings for the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standards for Heavy-Duty Vehicles – Phase 3 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking took place on May 2 and 3, 2023.
On a Speakers’ list packed full of representatives from the Lung Association, Mom’s groups, Church and Environmental Groups, Jed Mandel of the Truck and Engine Manufacturers’ Association did a yeoman’s job of injecting a note of practicality to the hearing.
“I represent the Truck and Engine Manufacturers,” Mandel told the online group, “and we support the aims of these new rules. However,” he explained to the group, “the infrastructure required to make it possible for our industry to function with these rules does not exist. It will make no sense for our members to transition to producing electric vehicles before the grid and the charging stations exist for these vehicles to use.”
Mandel was followed by Brooke Petry of “Moms Clean Air Force Pennsylvania.”
On April 26th, the U.S. Senate passed Senator Deb Fischer’s (R-Neb.) legislation to overturn President Biden’s aggressive EPA regulation on heavy-duty vehicle emissions by a vote of 50-49. Fischer said the regulation would devastate the trucking industry, raise costs for consumers, and incentivize older, less efficient trucks to stay on the road.
