Small business truckers throughout America are outraged by the Biden administration’s latest green energy push for their industry.
“This White House office does not listen to the trucker, end user, or buyer. “They just want to do what the extreme environmentalists want,” stated Lewie Pugh, an Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) board member, on Monday’s “Varney & Co.”
“And what it’s going to do is put lots and lots of truckers out of business.”
Pugh represents 150,000 independent truck drivers who operate 225,000 pieces of equipment. He believes that new emissions requirements for heavy-duty trucks would create more operational issues than solutions.
The Environmental Protection Agency issued the new restrictions on Friday morning. According to officials, they are the most stringent greenhouse gas emissions requirements ever established. The restrictions will go into effect in 2026 for model year 2027 vehicles and gradually become more stringent through model year 2032, requiring a higher number of trucks and buses to have zero emissions in that time frame.
Overall, the EPA stated that the tough rules will prevent a billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions and produce $13 billion in annualized net societal benefits linked to public health, the environment, and economic savings. The government claims that the restrictions will put the heavy-duty vehicle industry on a “trajectory for sustained growth.”
“Where will we charge them?” “That’s my first question,” Pugh complained. “There was a corporation in Juliet, Illinois, that planned to build a terminal for 30 vehicles. The city told them, ‘You can’t do it.” “You’ll use more electricity than the entire city of Juliet, Illinois.”
The new laws apply to both short- and long-haul tractor-trailer trucks, as well as vocational trucks such as delivery vehicles, garbage trucks, school and public transit buses, concrete trucks, and fire engines. Originally, the EPA projected that the rules would electrify 50% of vocational trucks, 35% of short-haul tractor-trailers, and 25% of long-haul tractor-trailers by 2032.
“Our highway trust fund, which would pay for things like this, is already on the verge of bankruptcy.” Where will the money come from?” Pugh suggested. “We can’t take care of our infrastructure that we have now, and we’re going to put all this stuff in and then hope it works?”
“[We’re] all saying there’s no way this will work. We cannot do it. They’re concerned about their lives and livelihoods,” he added. “What happens during the winter?” If you get stranded in a snow blizzard on the highway for two or three days and your battery dies, these individuals could freeze to death.”
The final criteria are slightly less rigorous than the initial suggested standards in April 2023. They come only one week after the EPA issued the most stringent multi-pollutant emission rules for light- and medium-duty cars yet.
The motive for the double homicide remained unknown; however, Aponte had previously sought care for his mental health, according to the publication.
Army veteran Chris Haley told the TV station that Aponte was suffering from “post-traumatic stress disorder and a traumatic brain injury” and had recently contacted the Catch A Lift Fund, a program that provides mental health help to military members.
“That is the whole reason why our organization exists,” Haley stated, according to the station. “So when it does happen, it’s quite shocking because it’s exactly what we’re trying to avoid. He (Aponte) felt a great urge to put things right because he had a wife and a child.
Court filings did not identify Aponte’s attorney of record.
They had not yet scheduled his next court date.
Anyone with information on the double killing should contact plantation police.
