Say goodbye to the trucking industry as we know it, and goodbye to the American economy, too.
You might have missed it on Good Friday — which you can be sure was no accident — when the Biden EPA released its new tailpipe rules for semi-trucks, but the new rules will destroy how we move goods around the country.
It seems like only two weeks ago [It was only two weeks ago, Steve —editor] that I told you about Presidentish Biden's new EPA regulations, coming into effect starting in 2027, that will force two-thirds of new car buyers into electric vehicles whether they want one or not. The tailpipe rules will effectively outlaw most gas and diesel engines by requiring a near-impossible 52% reduction in emissions.
On the Good Friday News Dump, the EPA announced similar restrictions on semi-trucks, again starting in just three years, and the changes will require one of those "fundamental transformations" the Left is so fond of.
SPOILER ALERT: "Fundamentally transform" means "we'll all be poorer."
NPR soft-pedaled industry complaints about the new rules "as unfeasible given current infrastructure." But the economic and technological reality is that it's going to take a lot more than thousands and thousands of new electric truck charging stations to get us from diesel power to Biden's fantasy of an all-electric trucking fleet.
"Zero-emission heavy-duty trucks exist today," NPR claims, "but are more expensive than traditional diesel vehicles. The EPA says that despite the upfront cost, over time the rules will save fleet owners money in reduced fuel and maintenance costs." That, however, is only a small (and misleading) part of the story.
Currently, EV trucks are less than 1% of new sales and, according to the Wall Street Journal, nearly all of those sales "are in California, which heavily subsidizes and mandates their purchase." To do that, Californians enjoy, as it were, some of the highest taxes in the nation.
The WSJ also warns that "most electric trucks can’t go more than 170 miles on a charge," and that "electric semis require bigger and heavier batteries, which means they must carry lighter loads to avoid damaging roads."
Lighter loads mean more trucks — are you looking forward to sharing the roads with even more semis? Because I'm not.
We'll also need more truck drivers and that's a labor market that's been "tight" for 40 years.
"Electric trucks also generate more soot from their wear and tear on roads and vehicle braking," the WSJ added. In 2020, a group called Emissions Analytics "found that emissions of particulate matter from tire wear can be 1,000 times worse than from tailpipes."
"The implication of this test is that electric cars may not be free of particulate emissions after all."
Fear not, comrades. I'm sure Washington will eventually outlaw rubber tires and we can all go back to moving goods around in covered wagons with wooden wheels. I'm not sure I'm joking.
Under Biden's rules, we'll end up with long-haul trucks that can go maybe 200 miles between recharges, increased traffic congestion, and everything from apples to iPhones will take longer and cost more to move to store shelves — while doing nothing to reduce particulate emissions.
The Wall Street Journal said that Biden's new rules are his "most costly and fanciful to date," and yet they're as real as a heart attack — and just as deadly to the U.S. economy.
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