It’s the Biden administration fight The monumental task of making America’s industrial transportation system more environmentally friendly. The White House said Wednesday that the industry aims for 30 percent of truck sales to be zero-emissions by 2030 and 100 percent by 2040.
In addition to those non-binding targets, the White House is meeting with stakeholders from the commercial transportation, shipping and infrastructure industries to help implement its agenda on Wednesday. The roundtable is designed to advance the Biden Administration’s goal to “highlight building the infrastructure necessary to make a zero-emissions trucking ecosystem in the United States a reality.”
Not surprisingly, the freight industry uses a lot of energy and produces a lot of pollution to match. Bloomberg notes The transportation sector accounts for about 29 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, and transportation (including trucking, trucking, and trains) accounts for about a third. So you might think that the American trucking industry is responsible for about 10 percent of the nation’s carbon emissions.
As part of the election year, the Biden Administration plans to ask the public for comment on the charging infrastructure for heavy-duty trucks, indicating that the specifics of the plan have not yet been finalized. The White House wants to avoid a fragmented industry EV charging system without a universally agreed upon standard. The industry appears Decided on Tesla’s NACS as the de facto option in the light consumer sector.
In addition to the newly announced industry targets, the Biden Administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is opening nearly $1 billion a year. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) Funding to replace Class 6 and 7 vehicles (school buses, garbage trucks and delivery trucks) with electric equivalents.
The IRA requires that at least $400 million of this funding be allocated to local communities most affected by industrial pollution. The White House says 72 million Americans live near trucking roads, bearing the brunt of their short-term productivity. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly (given the nation’s history), people of color and those from low-income families are most affected by high levels of environmental toxins.
The White House’s goals are admirable the urgency of the global climate crisis and the role of the shipping industry. However, one important problem remains: These are voluntary, non-binding resolutions and public commentsit will almost certainly be repealed by a second Trump Administration serial napper come back to the office next year. As with many other aspects of the country’s and the world’s future, US voters will decide the outcome this November.
