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How Trump could topple California’s clean truck dream
In an aerial view, trucks line up to leave a shipping terminal at a port of entry.
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Justin Sullivan
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Getty Images
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Topline:
President Donald Trump’s cuts to federal funding and attacks on state climate policy that have already caused California to withdraw one of its most ambitious pollution rules are raising questions about whether the state can propel its transition to zero-emission trucks forward on its own.
Why it matters: Trucks are an outsize source of pollution for California and one of the thorniest pieces of the state’s grand experiment to show the world what a net-zero economy looks like. In contrast with passenger vehicles, where a robust market for electric cars already exists, California’s market for electric trucks is just in its infancy and more vulnerable to federal threats.
What Trump is taking away: A week before Trump took office, California withdrew its request for a federal waiver to implement its clean truck purchasing mandate, citing Trump’s opposition and the fact that former-President Joe Biden’s Environmental Protection Agency ran out of time to act on the rule. Trump is also seeking to block government spending, with a special target on Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funds, throwing billions of federal dollars for truck charging into question.
Regulators look on the bright side: Officials say the state still has regulatory and financial tools to meet its goal of 100 percent zero-emission port trucks by 2035 and 100 percent clean trucks across the state by 2045. Funds are available through local air districts, state agencies, California’s cap-and-trade program and its transportation fuels emissions trading program.
Others aren’t sure: Some private fleet owners say the loss of California’s zero-emission truck purchasing mandate will delay the transition. Under that rule, companies were supposed to stop registering new diesel trucks with the ports beginning in 2024.
For more, read the full story in POLITICO's California Climate newsletter.
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