California Republicans are asking the Environmental Protection Agency to reject the state’s plan to mandate electric vehicle trucks.
Republican Assemblymembers and Senators wrote a letter to EPA Secretary Michael Regan asking him to deny Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Advanced Clean Fleets mandate.
The backstory: In September 2020, Newsom issued an executive order to implement the Advanced Clean Feets mandate by 2045.
- That mandate will require all medium and heavy vehicles to be zero-emission by 2045, with drayage trucks at the state’s ports be zero-emission by 2035.
Driving the news: The request by Republicans to rescind the mandate picked up steam after an accident on Interstate 15 in July, which resulted in a truck that was carrying lithium-ion batteries to overturn and catch fire.
- Interstate 15 was shut down for two days, trapping motorists in their cars near Baker in 109-degree heat.
- Fire agencies were unable to put out the fire because adding water to lithium batteries would have caused toxic gas to emit into the air.
- California Republicans urged Newsom to rescind the executive order in August, to no avail.
The letter: Republicans argue in the letter to the EPA that state officials are not ready to implement the mandate.
- “The State of California lacks a comprehensive plan to respond to fires from lithium-ion batteries on interstate highways and prevent prolonged closures,” the letter reads.
- Along with the July incident on Interstate 15, the letter points to an incident on Aug. 19 when a Tesla Semi – a battery-electric truck-tractor – crashed and caught on fire, shutting down another interstate between Northern California and Northern Nevada for 15 hours.
- “The State of California is battling wildfires,” the letter reads. “We are facing a multi-billion dollar deficit. Neither the state nor its residents can afford the Governor’s far-reaching policy.”
