In late April, the California Air Resources Board, or CARB for short, announced a plan to begin the journey toward being a zero carbon emissions (from vehicles) state by 2045. With the new regulation, titled the Advanced Clean Fleets rule, CARB expanded on their already announced plan to ban the sale of all new gasoline and diesel-powered passenger vehicles by 2035.
With the new regulation, all medium and heavy-duty trucks that operate within California state lines are going to be required to not release any harmful exhaust by the year of 2045.
This new rule also laid grounds to ban the sale of internal combustion engine models by 2036 and will require trucks that operate in particularly heavy hauling areas to be ahead of the rest of California fleets, as they must be zero-emission by 2035. This applies to areas such as ports and warehouse districts. Prior to this regulation, there was no other rule in the world that put into effect a rule regarding heavy-duty vehicles carbon emissions, as all others have primarily only affected passenger vehicles thus far. There were already in place incentives to try to entice truckers to try to reduce their emissions, offering $120,000 for battery electric semis and $240,000 for hydrogen trucks. Now with the new Advanced Clean Fleets rule, CARB is guaranteeing that more of these vehicles will be purchased.
According to CARB, with the switch to lower emission trucks, we will experience an increase to $27 million in health savings as a result of the cleaner air.
They are also anticipating the change to save carriers to save $48 billion through 2050.
While heavy-duty vehicles are not the sole contributor to California’s poor air quality, they do contribute more than 35% of the nitrogen oxide emissions seen in the state. This all comes from the size and amount of transportation, which also has led to trucks contributing to 25% of the state’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Many trucking manufacturers, such as the leaders of the industry Volvo and Freightliner and some of the lesser names like Kenworth and Peterbilt, have already begun the distribution and sale of battery and hydrogen fuel cells to California fleet leaders. The world’s leading diesel engine maker, Cummins, has also started to introduce electric propulsion in their new Accelera brand.
While the CARB Chair, Liane Randolph, speaks highly of the new California state rule, stating “We have the technology available to start working toward a zero-emission future now,” the American Trucking Associations fells differently. The representatives of freight haulers released a statement stating that the Advanced Clean Fleets rule sets up “unrealistic targets and unachievable timelines that will undoubtedly lead to higher prices for the goods and services delivered to the state and fewer options for consumers.” The president of the association spoke directly on the matter, expressing his frustration with the fact that a board of unelected officials in the state had the ability to create such a rule. He spoke on the lack of charging and refueling infrastructure in the state and called attention to the fact that electric vehicles are not always a direct replacement in terms of their functionality, meaning we will just have to now deal with an increase in the number of trucks on the road.
At this time, it is unknown if the American Trucking Association will take legal action to fight the new rule.
While it is understandable that the truckers are not happy with this new rule that will be affecting them within the next several years, it is good that they have at least been given significant notice. It is also incredibly important to maintain awareness of the fact that, even if this rule does not continue to hold power, we will have to do something to protect our country and its people.
