Government overreach prompted the threat of a potential “election-year truckers strike” as the industry reacted to the latest climate crackdown.
Zealous appeasement of the green agenda wasn’t met lightly Friday when the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rolled out its final rules on Phase 3 of heavy-duty vehicle emission standards with all the bureaucratic heft of an omnibus bill.
Boasting about his agency’s 1155-page behemoth, EPA administrator Michael Regan issued a statement on the rule that would impact over 100 different types of trucks, buses and vans saying, “I’m so proud to announce that EPA is finalizing the strongest national greenhouse gas standards for heavy-duty vehicles in history.”
“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,” he said of the plan set to phase in standards as early as 2027 that would essentially force the transportation industry to refit fleets with compliant vehicles. “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.”
I’m proud to announce @EPA has finalized the strongest national standards for heavy-duty vehicles – avoiding 1 billion tons of harmful air pollution & protecting 72 million people living near truck freight routes. This is @POTUS‘ climate agenda at work. https://t.co/rLTtLKo16f
— Michael Regan, U.S. EPA (@EPAMichaelRegan) March 29, 2024
Seeing past the PR and straight to the reality of the regulations, the American Trucking Associations were among those calling out the “one-size-fits-all” noose getting fitted about the neck of America’s supply chain.
“We oppose the emission standards for heavy-duty trucks announced today by EPA. The post-2030 targets remain entirely unachievable given the current state of zero-emission technology, the lack of charging infrastructure & restrictions on the power grid,” the ATA reacted with president and CEO Chris Spear asserting, “Given the wide range of operations required of our industry to keep the economy running, a successful emission regulation must be technology neutral and cannot be one-size-fits-all. Any regulation that fails to account for the operational realities of trucking will set the industry and America’s supply chain up for failure.”
Given the wide range of operations required of our industry to keep the economy running, a successful emission regulation must be technology neutral and cannot be one-size-fits-all.
— American Trucking (@TRUCKINGdotORG) March 29, 2024
He added, “The trucking industry is fully committed to the road to zero emissions, but the path to get there must be paved with commonsense. While we are disappointed with today’s rule, we will continue to work with EPA to address its shortcomings and advance emission-reduction targets and timelines that are both realistic and durable.”
President Joe Biden’s National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi touted the move said to “provide $13 billion in annualized net benefits” for public health, the climate and industry owners and operators, as a “complement” to “unprecedented investment in our workers and communities to reduce harmful emissions, while strengthening our manufacturing capacity for the transportation technologies of the future.”
The latest move to pick winners and losers was further met with outrage as the US Oil & Gas Association and others tacked on, “People have no idea that our entire economy rides on a diesel-powered trucking industry. An election-year truckers strike would educate them real quick…”
This is what you get when people who have never worked in the trucking industry decide to over regulate the trucking industry and don’t realize how it could crash the economy.
— Eric Russell (@EricRussell82) March 30, 2024
OMG he’s going to put our business out of business!!! My husband started a lawn and landscape company almost 36 years ago, 1988 using the our rent money to buy a much needed piece of equipment and now we have close to 50 employees including office staff! Every one of our…
— Proud Army Mom (@momofarmympvet) March 29, 2024
This is @POTUS‘s climate agenda at work to intentionally destroy the USA’s industrial base at the behest of his Chicom masters.
— Defender of the Constitutional Republic (@JoeHend62265157) March 30, 2024
@POTUS @TheDemocrats here is your daily reminder that we need to be ENERGY INDEPENDENT
— LizzyStratton (@LizzyStratton) March 29, 2024
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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