Appeared on PennLive on April 28, 2024: 

https://www.pennlive.com/opinion/2024/04/pennsylvania-stands-to-lose-with-new-tailpipe-rule-opinion.html

Pennsylvania stands to lose with new tailpipe rule | Opinion

• By 

  • Guest Editorial
  By Rebecca Oyler

  How would you feel if you’re told which type of car you have to buy? Or you step into the grocery store and see bare shelves and less choice in the products you buy?

  
  

  
  

  Or you aren’t able to get a critical medical supply your child needs right way? Unfortunately, this may be the reality in the future, given EPA’s two recent bombshell rules mandating an aggressive transition to electric vehicles (EVs) for both cars and heavy-duty trucks by 2032.

  These new rules fly in the face of consumers and ignore the reality of U.S. supply chains that rely on motor vehicles every day. As Pennsylvania’s transportation industry continues to thrive, New EV emissions rule risks harming our economy and hardworking middle-class families in very tangible ways.

  The final rule on passenger vehicles and pickup trucks calls for over two-thirds of them to be electric or hybrid by 2032, ultimately causing mayhem across the US auto industry and American supply lines.

  New electric truck mandates just deepen the impending catastrophe. EPA’s rule for trucks requires between 25% and 40% of medium-size and long-haul trucks to be zero-emissions by 2032. Concerns about range, charging infrastructure, power grid reliability, battery weight, safety, and cost are significant.

  This isn’t to say electric trucks don’t have a role in the trucking industry, but a forced transition of this scale will have immediate and long-term consequences on supply chains. American Trucking Associations (ATA) President and CEO Chris Spear said it best, “The trucking industry is fully committed to the road to zero emissions, but the path to get there must be paved with commonsense.”

  Pennsylvania is a trucking state. The industry is integral to our economy, employing over 340,000 people. In fact, total trucking industry wages in 2022 exceeded $19.1 billion, with 87.9% of Pennsylvanian communities depending exclusively on trucks to move critical goods. Most trucking companies are small businesses, raising concerns about their ability to compete, with the cost of electric trucks roughly three times as much as a new clean diesel truck.

  It was reported in January that major highways that traverse our state like I-76 and I-80 are not yet ready for the EV change due to inadequate charging infrastructure. Though federal funding is building out chargers in the state now, these chargers are made for cars, not trucks.

  Pennsylvania already has a critical shortage of parking spaces for trucks that it’s trying to address. Building out massive electric infrastructure to provide charging stations for large trucks where truckers need to stop will cost billions of dollars. Estimates for the electric infrastructure nationwide stand at $1 trillion.

  What’s especially frustrating is the lack of recognition of how far technology has come with emissions in the past few decades. In fact, a single truck in 1988 had the same emissions as an entire fleet of 60 trucks today. As older vehicles continue to be replaced over time with newer, cleaner ones, emissions will naturally continue to reduce.

  Ultimately, this unnecessary and expensive rule will spell disaster for the trucking industry. It will drive up prices for every good consumers buy, have unpredictable and extreme impacts throughout the supply chains, and make it harder for truckers to earn a stable middle-class income.

  Thankfully, Pennsylvanian leaders have realized this, with Sen. John Fetterman criticizing the EV mandate and standing up for consumers and workers whose livelihoods rely on critical infrastructure and supply chains fueled by fossil fuel-powered vehicles. With the current incredibly small market share and enormous cost barrier for EVs, EPA tailpipe emissions mandates are not good policy for Pennsylvanians.

  It is time for U.S. Sens. Bob Casey to join Fetterman and stand against the Biden Administration, joining Pennsylvania truckers and consumers who cannot afford these fast-paced aggressive changes.

  Rebecca Oyler serves as President and CEO of the Pennsylvania Motor Truck Association, a statewide professional association advocating for the trucking industry.