Environmental groups on Thursday called on Gov. J.B. Pritzker to enact clean truck rules, but trucking groups say there is a heavy dose of reality involved.“Polluted air is not a one-time disaster, and often it is not blowing in from across our borders, we breathe dirty air everyday, poisoned by diesel trucks that drive through our communities,” said J.C. Kibbey, advocate for the Climate and Clean Energy Program.
Don Schaefer, executive vice president of the Mid-West Truckers Association, said modern trucks run much cleaner than in the past.
“Are we reducing emissions, we’ve reduced emissions by 90% on most diesel trucks over the last 20 years, so there is progress being made,” Schaefer told The Center Square.According to the ATA, a clean diesel truck can spend 15 minutes fueling anywhere in the country and then travel about 1,200 miles before fueling again. In contrast, today’s long-haul battery electric trucks have a range of about 150-330 miles and can take up to 10 hours to charge.
