Benevolent CA Air Resourced Board Withdraws Federal Waiver Allowing Truck Drivers to Stay in Business

“California has no choice but to abandon its groundbreaking rules for zero-emission trucks and cleaner locomotives,” CalMatters reports.

That’s one way of acknowledging that the benevolent California Air Resources Board has withdrawn the federal waiver to enact emissions limits that exceed federal standards, and would require California truck drivers to transition from diesel to electric trucks.

Seriously. This was about to go into effect, but in anticipation of the upcoming Trump administration… need we say more?

CARB has enjoyed little to no legislative oversight by the California Legislature since AB 32, California’s Global Warming Solutions Act, was passed in 2006, nearly 20 year ago. Since then, the CARB has run amok spreading devastating “climate change” regulations and cap and trade extortions on businesses in California, and infected Western states.

Notably, California’s weather events and “climate” hasn’t changed since 2006.

There was nothing “groundbreaking” about California’s or the EPA’s Advanced Clean Fleets rule. CARB aimed to achieve a total zero-emissions truck and bus fleet by 2045, as well as have at least 1.6 million zero-emission medium- and heavy-duty trucks operating in the state by 2048.

“State officials have long considered the rules essential to cleaning up California’s severe air pollution and combating climate change,” CalMatters said, obviously upset about the federal waiver forcing big rigs to go all-electric being dropped.

Where is California’s severe air pollution? Who in California is experiencing climate change?

It’s probably more important to listen to those in the trucking industry than a reporter paid to write “about the impacts of climate change and air pollution and California’s policies to tackle them.”

The Commercial Carrier Journal reported:

“The state of California has withdrawn its remaining outstanding request for waivers that would have allowed the state to enact emissions limits that exceed federal standards as the sun sets on President Joe Biden’s administration, which had been an ally in the state’s fight for some of the world’s most stringent air quality regulations.”

Freightwaves reported:

“It is a stunning turnaround for CARB, which when it first adopted ACF told industry representatives that it did not believe it needed a waiver to implement the rule. But with the filing of a lawsuit by the California Trucking Association arguing that CARB did need a waiver, the agency backed down and made its waiver request in November 2023.“

Western States Trucking Association issued a statement, referencing the LA fires:

“We are pleased at this development at a time California is facing a crisis that clearly illustrates the importance of heavy-duty vehicles – especially ultra clean diesel-powered trucks in helping protect our communities and ultimately to begin the massive recovery efforts. This was not the time to try and push through a rule designed to transform the industry to meet the desires of a small segment of the population especially considering many of the burn areas have been without electricity for a least a week, and do not have charging facilities to handle all the trucks.”

Liane Randolph, the CARB chairwoman, said the process ran out of time with the Trump administration set to take office next week, The New York Times reported. “Frankly, given that the Trump administration has not been publicly supportive of some of the strategies that we have deployed in these regulations, we thought it would be prudent to pull back and consider our options.”

California Assemblywoman Alexandra Macedo (R-Tulare) also made an announcement:

“California truck drivers are a pivotal component of the state’s agricultural industry and our state’s supply chain. They transport food from California farms to our grocery stores nationwide. Due to the perishable nature of agriculture products, time is of the essence in the transport of food. Diesel trucks allow this to happen in a timely manner. 

“This ill-conceived policy would have put truck drivers – many of whom are from working class communities – out of business. Additionally, this burden on the trucking industry would only contribute to the affordability crisis the State of California is experiencing. Policies such as these fail to take into consideration the financial impact on businesses and consumers.

 “It is time the Governor, CARB and the rest of his Administration work with, instead of against, employers and their workers who are critical to the State’s economy.”

Macedo represents the largest agricultural region in the state – the Central Valley, and is the fourth generation in her family’s livestock market, Tulare Sales Yard, since 1939.

“The move will leave the state, which has become a global leader in the fight against climate change, without some tools to lower planet-warming emissions at a moment when Los Angeles is being devastated by historic wildfires,” the New York Times reported. “Scientific studies have concluded that pollution from fossil fuels is intensifying wildfires in the West.”

“The state, which has become a global leader in the fight against climate change…” The NYT makes bold pronouncements, but never explains what a global leader in the fight against climate change is, or what it entails.

“California submitted requests to the E.P.A. more than a year ago to tighten controls on additional sources of pollution, including a requirement that commercial truck fleets begin a transition to all-electric or other zero emission vehicles, starting in 2024. Under those requests, now withdrawn, operators would have been required to achieve 100 percent zero-emissions fleets in the state between 2035 and 2042, depending on factors such as the size and weight of the trucks. The state also wanted to require that new heavy-duty trucks sold in California must be all-electric or zero-emissions by 2036.”

In August, 21 Republican Lawmakers from the California Senate and Assembly increased pressure on Governor Gavin Newsom to change up his Advanced Clean Fleets mandate because of multiple electric vehicle fires caused by lithium-ion batteries that occurred in the past month, the Globe reported.

In April of 2023, the CARB announced the sale of all new diesel big rig trucks and buses would be banned in the state starting in 2036, similar to the state’s new gas-powered car sale ban currently set for 2035. In addition to the 2036 sales ban on new diesel trucks and buses, CARB, with the backing of Governor Newson, announced that all trucks in California must be zero-emissions by 2042, i.e. the Advanced Clean Fleets rule. Under these new regulations CARB claimed the state would achieve a total zero-emissions truck and bus fleet by 2045, as well as have at least 1.6 million zero-emission medium- and heavy-duty trucks operating in the state by 2048.

It appears some of this madness will be halted.