OKLAHOMA CITY (May 13, 2024) – In two separate lawsuits, Attorney General Gentner Drummond is challenging efforts by the Biden Administration and the State of California to impose electric-vehicle mandates on truck owners and operators nationwide.
A coalition of 24 states filed a petition for review today in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to contest the Biden Administration’s new regulation on emissions from heavy-duty vehicles. A separate coalition of 17 states filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California seeking to block a set of regulations targeting trucking fleet owners and operators.
Drummond expressed his commitment to opposing what he describes as governmental overreach. “These outrageous mandates would force massive costs on commercial trucking that, in turn, will be passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices on anything and everything,” he said. “These initiatives would upend the free market system by forcing companies to purchase electric trucks they clearly do not want. The resulting blow to the economy would be tremendous.”
The D.C. Circuit suit targets an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule imposing stringent tailpipe emissions standards for heavy-duty vehicles, which effectively forces manufacturers to produce more electric trucks and fewer internal-combustion trucks. Currently, electric trucks and their supporting infrastructure are virtually nonexistent, have shorter ranges, and require longer stops.
The EPA’s rule would mandate manufacturers produce fewer vehicles utilizing preferred internal combustion technology.
The California suit challenges a series of regulations known as Advanced Clean Fleets. This initiative requires certain trucking fleet owners and operators to retire internal-combustion trucks and transition to more expensive and less efficient electric trucks. The rule applies even if fleets are headquartered outside California but operate within its borders. Given California’s large population and access to international trade ports, this regulation could significantly impact the national supply chain.
In both lawsuits, states argue that federal and California regulators have exceeded their constitutional and statutory authority by attempting to force a nationwide transition to electric trucks.
Furthermore, both sets of regulations face criticism for being impractical. Electric trucks are considered inefficient and costly; critics argue they will increase interstate transportation costs, raise goods prices, and burden the electric power grid.
Attorneys general from Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Virginia West Virginia Wyoming joined Drummond in suing against the Biden Administration's regulation.
Similarly attorneys general from Alabama Arkansas Georgia Idaho Indiana Iowa Kansas Louisiana Missouri Montana Nebraska South Carolina Utah West Virginia Wyoming along with Arizona State Legislature joined Drummond against California regulators.