TRENTON, NJ – A move at the federal level have given the state of California to ban the sale of new diesel-powered heavy-duty vehicles by 2045.
That move could have chilling rippling effects nationwide, including here in New Jersey where Governor Phil Murphy regularly mimics New York and California’s progressive and green energy policies.
This year, Murphy joined the 2035 ban of gasoline-powered vehicles, boasting that he modeled his ban on the existing California gas car ban.
According to DCNF, “The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will approve California’s proposed rules, which would obligate all new heavy-duty vehicles — including shipping trucks and delivery vans — sold in the state after 2045 be fully electric or hydrogen-powered, The Washington Post reported Monday, citing three individuals familiar with the agency’s plans. New York, New Jersey, Oregon, Massachusetts, Washington and Vermont have all committed to following California’s lead on this issue, a move which experts told the DCNF was tantamount to a nationwide ban.”
The DCNF reported, together, California and the six states that are expected to follow in its lead represent some 20% of all heavy-duty vehicle sales in the U.S., the Post reported. According to analytics firm Wood Mackenzie, heavy-duty electric trucks accounted for just 2.7% of all in the U.S. as of May 2022.
According to Green Car Reports, California is now actively banning older diesel trucks from operating on its roads. A new rule states that any diesel vehicle weighing over 14,000 pounds with an engine built before the 2010 model year is banned from California roads effective January 1, 2023.
“Our industry hopes these reports aren’t true,” President and CEO Chris Spear of the American Trucking Association told the DCNF in a statement. Spear stressed that the industry had reduced emissions by 98% since 1998, and that it had worked closely with the EPA to develop “aggressive, achievable” emissions reductions timelines for decades.
Article based on a story by the Daily Caller.