California has a tendency to make life more difficult for itself and the rest of the country. Boasting the largest economy in the country and the fifth largest in the world, the decisions made in Sacramento affect everyone from coast to coast and across the globe. This is why the Advanced Clean Fleets (ACF) rule passed last October will be disastrous not just for Californians, but for all American consumers.
The legislation, handed down by unelected bureaucrats of the California Air Resources Board, mandates a complete transition away from internal combustion engines and to electric for medium and large trucks by 2035. It affects any semi-truck from any company with a fleet of at least 50 that drives any distance on California’s roadways; it makes no difference where the headquarters is located. The state is currently awaiting a waiver from the Environmental Protection Agency, which grants the state permission to establish its own emissions standards. A decision could be made in the coming months.
And just like everything else, if California is given its waiver, other states plan to follow.
Environmental NGOs may cheer such legislation, but they are not the ones on the ground running the companies, driving the trucks, or shipping the freight.
Multiple state and/or institutional coalitions are rightly bringing legal action through lawsuits and regulatory comments, declaring the law unconstitutional and running afoul of the Clean Air Act. The California Trucking Association’s suit declares the actions “represent a vast overreach that threatens the security and predictability of the nation’s goods movement industry.”
The Golden State is home to the biggest ports in North America: Los Angeles and Long Beach. Combined, the two handle 17 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) and nearly $500 billion of cargo each year, coming from and going to different parts of the world. In total, 12 ports dot the California coastline, processing about 40 percent of all U.S. containerized imports and 30 percent of all exports for the U.S.
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Kristen Walker is a policy analyst for the American Consumer Institute, a nonprofit education and research organization. For more information about the Institute, visit www.theamericanconsumer.org or follow us on Twitter @ConsumerPal.