Save the truckers! Save the supply chain, too. The Biden administration’s goal of eliminating gas-powered trucks hit a speed bump Tuesday when four House Democrats crossed party lines and voted with Republicans to pass a resolution to reject a Biden administration environmental regulation that targets heavy-duty vehicle tailpipe emissions.
The resolution was introduced by Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX) as a companion bill in April to one that Senator Deb Fischer, a Republican from Nebraska, introduced in the Senate two months earlier. The vote was 221-203. Nehls is a member of the Transportation Committee’s Highways and Transit subcommittee.
Nehls said Washington bureaucrats are on a climate justice crusade. Biden’s EPA is out of control.The Biden administration’s EPA said in December that the new rules were the “strongest-ever national clean air standards to cut smog- and soot-forming emissions from heavy-duty trucks.” The rules went into effect on March 27 but will be implemented for new trucks sold after 2027. The new regulations are more than 80% stricter than current regulations. The Biden administration claims it will prevent up to 2,900 premature deaths and fight asthma by eliminating 3.1M cases.
The cost of these new regulations is estimated at $39B. House Republicans called the regulations “onerous” as they pointed out that it hurts small trucking businesses. The cost of the technology needed to comply with the changes would result in more expensive freight costs and few trucks on the road. More than 30 senators introduced the Senate resolution to reject the rule. The Senate passed the resolution in a 50-49 vote on April 26.
Biden has vowed to veto the resolution. There aren’t enough votes to override the veto if the close vote in both chambers is any indication of where lawmakers stand when it comes to green overreach. Progressives beholden to environmental whackos claim that the new regulations are necessary to protect public health. Government overreach is always justified in terms that government bureaucrats know what is best. In this case, the overreach would destroy mom and pop trucking companies and put additional financial burdens on all trucking companies. When the trucking industry experiences higher costs in order to do business, those increases are passed down to consumers. That’s the last thing American consumers need right now as families struggle to pay bills and purchase everyday necessities in Biden’s economy.
