OKLAHOMA CITY (OBV) – Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond is taking on the Biden administration in federal court for its electric-vehicle mandate on truck manufacturers.
Drummond filed a brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to challenge the mandate.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a rule in April mandating tailpipe emissions standards for heavy-duty vehicles.
Drummond described the rule as stringent and argues that it forces manufacturers to produce more electric trucks and fewer internal-combustion trucks.
The Oklahoma AG filed his brief last week. He and 23 other state attorneys general contend that the EPA’s electric-truck mandate raises a major question because Congress has not empowered the agency to electrify the nation’s trucking fleet.
“The heavy-duty trucking industry moves $30 billion worth of freight every day,” Drummond said. “This outrageous edict, the product of an overzealous environmental agenda, would cause major disruptions and deliver a significant blow to the U.S. economy. Prices would go up on all types of goods and the stability of our electric grid would be in jeopardy.”
The EPA mandate aims for 60 percent of new urban trucks and 25 percent of long-haul semis sold to be electric by 2032.
The new standards were designed to prevent 1 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions and provide $13 billion in annualized net benefits to society related to public health, the climate and savings for truck owners and operators, according to EPA officials.
The measures will ultimately reduce dangerous air pollution, especially for the approximately 72 million people across the United States “who live near truck freight routes, bear the burden of higher levels of pollution, and are more likely to be people of color or come from low-income households,” EPA officials said.
“Today’s announcement demonstrates that a zero-emission heavy-duty vehicle future is not only achievable, but more essential than ever given the disproportionate rate of greenhouse gas emissions from buses and trucks,” Senator Alex Padilla, D-CA, said in late March. “This historic rule reflects California’s leadership and heeds my consistent calls to implement a strong HDV emissions rule that will transform our transportation sector and safeguard clean air for all, including for disadvantaged communities in freight corridors. I also applaud the Biden Administration for recently launching a whole-of-government strategy to deploy the zero-emission heavy-duty infrastructure needed to make this transition a success.”
A tenth of a percent of heavy-duty trucks currently sold are battery powered. The EPA’s rule is expected to increase that number to 45 percent over the next seven years.
The brief argues that allowing the electric-truck mandate to stand would short-circuit an ongoing policy debate that should be decided by Congress and the states.
Attorneys general from the following states also joined the brief: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Tennessee, Texas, South Dakota, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming.
