Austin, Texas – Today, American Trucking Associations President and CEO Chris Spear told members of the European Parliament that the international governing body should embrace realistic, achievable timelines to reduce emissions, rejecting California’s unrealistic and unreasonable timelines.
“California’s development of the Advanced Clean Truck and Advanced Clean Fleet rules aim to create a zero-emission vehicle market beginning next year. Given where the technology, infrastructure, power grid, cost and operational requirements stand, these regulations will undoubtedly fail to deliver the vehicles and market adoption California seeks,” Spear said in his testimony. “California’s response is predictable: They will just adjust the timelines and percentage targets, unleashing even more uncertainty for the industry. This was the case for the passenger vehicle industry, and we expect history to repeat itself.”
ATA has consistently called for unified regulations across all 50 states. Spear noted that next year, because of California’s extreme regulatory push, the industry will be forced to contend with dueling regulatory regimes – one for California and one for the other 49 states.
“This patchwork of conflicting regulations is not ideal nor conducive in achieving zero emissions. California’s ‘go it alone’ strategy will result in capped diesel sales, an extension of older and higher polluting trucks on the road, and significant price increases in the dwindling number of available diesel trucks,” he said. “This framework has set California up for failure, which in turn sets our industry and economy up for failure.”
“The ATA starts with yes. We are committed to further reducing our emissions, we’ve proven that. We simply ask that policy makers and regulators be realistic about the path forward and how it can be best achieved,” Spear told Parliament.
“The federal Environmental Protection Agency is now finalizing a new set of carbon reductions as part of its Greenhouse Gas Phase 3 regulation, and ATA is working with the agency to develop timelines and targets that reflect operational realities,” he said. “To get to zero, we need to be honest and transparent about the road ahead. The infrastructure to support clean, next generation trucks must first be in place. Production of renewable and low-carbon fuels must increase. The path to a zero-emission future hinges on unbridled innovation; and, government and industry stakeholders working together, not apart. A technology-neutral regulatory framework is needed to allow for diverse technology options to continue reducing tailpipe emissions like low carbon fuels, hybrid, battery electric and hydrogen fuel.”
To read Spear’s full testimony, click here.