FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 12, 2022
Bicameral letter highlights importance of accelerating the deployment of zero-emission vehicles
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Nanette Diaz Barragán, Senator Alex Padilla, Congressman Donald McEachin, Congresswoman Pamila Jayapal, and Senator Cory Booker led 61 of their colleagues in urging the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to finalize ambitious clean truck standards that reduce Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) and greenhouse gas emissions and include requirements for the sale of zero-emission trucks.
The final proposed EPA rule will have major environmental justice implications and impact air quality and public health for decades. Diesel trucks impose a disproportionate pollution burden on Black, Latino, Asian, and Indigenous communities and are a large contributor to the elevated rates of asthma and cancer rates in environmental justice communities. In response, California adopted the Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) regulation, which requires truck manufacturers to sell an increasing share of clean, zero-emission trucks over the next decade. The ACT has since been adopted by New Jersey, Washington, Oregon, New York, Massachusetts, and Connecticut.
“The rule should strengthen EPA’s proposed Option 1 by building on the successes of the Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) rule adopted by seven states and set the expectation that at least 50 percent of sales should be zero-emission by 2030, putting the United States on track for all truck sales to be zero-emission by 2035. And as we advance our goals to transition to zero-emission trucks as quickly as possible, it is also important that EPA ensure the remaining new diesel truck purchases operate as cleanly as possible to protect public health, especially in our most overburdened communities.” the members of Congress wrote.
Zero-emission technology is available today, and multiple studies show the trucks will produce substantial savings, especially as fuel prices continue to rise. Due to state leadership and increased demand, today there are over 100 commercially available models of zero-emissions medium- and heavy-duty trucks and buses, with additional models expected each year.
In the House, the letter was cosigned by Representatives Adam Smith (Wash.), Jesús G. “Chuy” García (Ill.), Yvette D. Clarke (N.Y.), Alan S. Lowenthal (Calif.), Jared Huffman (Calif.), Jerry McNerney (Calif.), Doris Matsui (Calif.), Emanuel Cleaver II (Mo.), Jahana Hayes (Conn.), Jerrold Nadler (N.Y.), Karen Bass (Calif.), Tony Cárdenas (Calif.), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC), Barbara Lee (Calif.), Mark DeSaulnier (Calif.), André Carson (Ind.), Mark Pocan (Wis.), Julie Brownley (Calif.), Mondaire Jones (N.Y.), Lloyd Doggett (Texas), Bonnie Watson Coleman (N.J.), Mike Quigley (Ill.), Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (Va.), Melanie Stansbury (N.M.), Cori Bush (Mo.), Ro Khanna (Calif.), Jimmy Gomez (Calif.), Rashida Tlaib (Mich), Steve Cohen (Tenn.), Marie Newman (Ill.), Gwen S. Moore (Wis.), Henry C. “Hank” Johnson (Ga.), Jamie Raskin (Md.), Jan Schakowsky (Ill.), Adriano Espaillat (N.Y.), Maxine Waters (Calif.), Nikema Williams (Ga.), Richie Torres (N.Y.), Albio Sires (N.J.), Raúl M. Grijalva (Ariz.), Mike Levin (Calif.), Frederica S. Wilson (Fla.), Brenda Lawrence (Mich), Thomas R. Suozzi (N.Y.), Dwight Evans (Pa.), Donald S. Beyer Jr. (Va.), James P. McGovern (Mass.), Jim Costa (Calif.), Danny K. Davis (Ill.), Katie Porter (Calif.), Bradley Scott Schenider (Calif.), Diana DeGette (Colo.), Peter Welch (Vt.).
In the Senate, the letter was cosigned by Senators Charles E. Schumer (N.Y.), Dianne Feinstein (Calif.), Christopher S. Murphy (Conn.), Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.), Edward J. Markey (Mass.), Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), Sheldon Whitehouse (R.I.), and Richard Blumenthal (Conn.)
The letter was also supported by the following environmental and health organizations: Earthjustice, Moms Clean Air Force, Sierra Club, League of Conservation Voters, Union of Concerned Scientists, Natural Resources Defense Council, GreenLatinos, Voices for Progress, EVHybridNoire, CleanAirNow KC, Clean Water Action, West Long Beach Neighborhood Association, Environmental Law & Policy Center, Environment America, U.S. PIRG
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Nanette Diaz Barragán is proud to represent California’s 44th Congressional District, which includes the communities of Carson, Compton, Florence-Firestone, Lynwood, North Long Beach, Rancho Dominguez, San Pedro, South Gate, Walnut Park, Watts, Willowbrook and Wilmington. She serves as chairwoman of the House Homeland Security Committee’s Subcommittee on Border Security.