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Without truck drivers, America would be stuck. There is no doubt about it. Truck drivers have a grueling job delivering food, clothing, and other essentials. But instead of supporting the hardworking men and women behind the wheel, President Joe Biden continues to empty their wallets and force them to drive electric trucks for his own radical climate change policies.
Well we are pushing back. The Biden administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the state of California have no right or legal legitimacy to force truck drivers to comply with radical climate change policies. That’s why I, along with 18 other state attorneys general, are bringing Biden to court.
About 100,000 Iowans are employed in Iowa’s trucking industry. That’s nearly 1 in 13 workers in the state. Meanwhile, Mr. Biden’s illegal trucking ban puts the entire industry at risk. The Biden administration has put us on track to destroy the domestic biofuel industry, raise prices for businesses and truckers, and designate California as the leading decision-maker in the trucking industry.
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In March, the Biden administration’s EPA violated the Constitution by granting California an exemption from issuing its own truck emissions standards. These radical standards go further than regulations set elsewhere in the country, effectively banning the sale of petrol or diesel trucks.
California and eight other states have introduced sweeping climate change regulations that force trucking companies to buy expensive, poor-quality vehicles. (St. Petersburg)
California’s truck ban requires about 55% of delivery vans and light trucks, 75% of buses and heavy trucks, and 40% of tractor-trailers and other large rigs to be fully electric by 2035. Obliged. By 2045, petrol and diesel trucks will be fully electric. Banned in California.
But things get even worse. With the Biden administration’s waivers, these rules will likely affect not just California, but America as a whole. California is the fifth largest economy in the world, so its radical climate change concerns affect the entire trucking industry.
States are forced to follow California’s zero-emissions standards to compete in the market. This will force truck manufacturers to inflate the prices of gasoline and diesel vehicles to discourage Americans from buying them.
Eight other states, including Colorado, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Vermont and Washington, have already adopted California’s sweeping truck bans. Connecticut, Maine, and North Carolina have followed in their footsteps.
Nowhere in the U.S. Constitution does it say that California can make rules for other parts of the country. On the contrary, the Constitution calls for equal sovereignty among the states, meaning that one state receives no special treatment to set the standards of another state.
In fact, the Clean Air Act provisions used to justify EPA exemptions are unconstitutional precisely because they violate the principle of equal sovereignty. EPA’s exemption also raises the principle of a critical question, a rule of law that means that major regulations must pass through Congress, not unelected bureaucrats.
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And don’t get me wrong, California’s truck ban will bring dust to rural America. There are few charging stations in rural areas. A supply chain nightmare awaits, given that electric trucks have a much shorter range than petrol and diesel trucks, traveling an average of about 870 to 1,050 miles less before refueling.
States are forced to follow California’s zero-emissions standards to compete in the market. This will force truck manufacturers to inflate the prices of gasoline and diesel vehicles to discourage Americans from buying them.
Electric trucks are two to three times more expensive and less efficient. It takes 15 minutes to fully charge an electric truck, but it takes 10 hours. And if we’ve learned anything from California’s rolling blackouts, it’s that our grid isn’t ready to support the surge of electric vehicles. The problems are endless.
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The harsh realities of the trucking industry, which is already facing rising operating costs, rising fuel prices and a shortage of drivers, are forcing job cuts and other difficult decisions as a result of expensive regulations that threaten truck driver employment. to be completely out of business.
As Attorney General, I will not stand by as the Biden administration and the state of California try to impose radical climate change policies and restrict truck drivers from going out of business. It’s time to put the brakes on California’s truck ban, and our lawsuit does just that.
