OKLAHOMA CITY (OBV) – Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond joined a multistate coalition urging the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to maintain a federal legal block on California’s Advanced Clean Fleets regulation.
The coalition of state attorneys general argues that the regulation illegally imposes an electric-truck mandate on fleet owners, operators and manufacturers, including trucking companies that drive one truck for as infrequently as one day a year in California.
Drummond signed onto a coalition letter that was sent to EPA Administrator Michael Regan, urging that California not be allowed to implement an electric-vehicle mandate that they claim will disrupt the nation’s logistics and transportation industries. California does not have the statutory and regulatory authority to implement such a mandate, the attorneys general argue.
“This mandate overreaches and would do significant harm to the fossil fuels industry and spur chaos to the supply line from coast to coast,” Drummond said. “The far-left climate agenda being pushed by California must not be allowed to upend the rest of the United States. In effect, it is the tail wagging the dog.”
Drummond joined a 19-state coalition challenging the California electric-truck mandate in federal court in June.
The Under the Clean Air Act allows only the federal government to set emissions standards for vehicles, Drummond contends.
The EPA solicited comments on whether to allow California to implement its regulation after California asked the agency for a waiver to enforce Advanced Clean Fleets.
The attorneys general contend that granting a waiver would be unconstitutional because it would enable California to regulate motor vehicles in a manner that no other state can. They also argue that nothing in federal law permits California or the EPA to ban internal-combustion vehicles altogether.
“Given California’s large population and access to ports for international trade, should the EPA allow Advanced Clean Fleets to be enforced, the regulation will significantly disrupt the supply chain nationwide,” officials from Drummond’s office said.
Attorneys general from the following states also signed onto the letter to the EPA: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming.
The coalition’s letter to the EPA is shared below:
