President Donald Trump dealt a defeat to California Governor Gavin Newsom this week as California regulators voted to repeal a mandate that required trucking fleets to purchase zero-emission, electric-powered vehicles. [emphasis, links added]
As Breitbart News reported in 2022, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) proposed a mandate for trucks, as part of Newsom’s push for electric vehicles.
In 2023, CalMatters.org noted that CARB adopted new rules, which would ban diesel rig sales by 2036 and electrify all trucking fleets in the state by 2042.
But Republicans — and economic reality — intervened in Newsom’s plans.
Politico reported this week:
The California Air Resources Board [CARB] — a powerful agency that sets emissions standards for vehicles, power plants and other polluters — voted to repeal its zero-emission purchasing rule for private fleets, the final remnant of the state’s aggressive push to mandate a rapid electric transition in the trucking sector.
That decision was a formality after the agency failed to secure permission to enforce its stricter-than-federal Advanced Clean Fleets rule before President Donald Trump took office.
But coming on the heels of Trump’s revocation of a companion rule that would have required truck manufacturers to increasingly build and sell more electric models, the move shows how thoroughly Republicans have upended California’s strategy.
Newsom’s notorious press office — which spends much of its time trolling Trump — tried to put a brave face on the change on Thursday, claiming that the state is making progress toward its electric vehicle goals.
However, as Breitbart News has reported, electric vehicle sales in the state have been too weak to meet Newsom’s overall goals, placing the future of his ban on gas-powered passenger vehicles by 2035 in doubt.
CCD Editor’s note: Trump’s rescission bill earlier this summer stripped California of the authority to enforce its electric-truck mandate, prompting the state’s repeal vote.
Read more at Breitbart
The writing on the wall finally got thru to CARB. If common sense had prevailed to start with the edict would never have occurred. They would have known that transporting all the c=goods throughout the state, especially with the vast amount of cargo traveling through the major ports like Long Beach, could never happen with electric powered big rigs. That’s not even considering where all the electricity would come from to charge them all.