Clean Freight Coalition (CFC) Executive Director Jim Mullen issued the following statement regarding the Democrat-led congressional letter to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan. The letter encouraged the agency to adopt California’s regulations as the nation’s standards, a more stringent heavy-duty Greenhouse Gas Phase 3 (GHG 3) regulation mirroring California’s standards.

“The Clean Freight Coalition remains concerned that lawmakers and regulators continue to pursue a regulatory agenda that follows California’s mandates that will upend the nation’s supply chain while ignoring immediate, scalable solutions for reducing carbon emissions from existing and future fleets,” the letter stated. “Setting regulatory requirements relying on technologies that are either in early demonstration phases or not fully developed, and yet to be tested and validated in the various unique real-world applications, will disrupt the nation’s freight network.”

Mullen went on to explain that congress and regulators should pursue policies that provide immediate emissions reductions, allowing more time for sustainable technology to mature and infrastructure to expand to other areas. He used the example that repealing the federal excise tax would incentivize truckers to refresh their fleets with modern greener and safer technologies. This, according to Mullen, should be promoted by policymakers in order to incentivize low-carbon fuel options readily available such as biodiesel and renewable fuels.

“Without reliable power, fleets will be left with the options to purchase equipment that does not meet their performance needs or to hold onto their diesel equipment longer, negating the expected emissions reductions that California and EPA are expecting,” the letter noted.