Emission-Free Heavy-Duty Trucks Requirements Approved in California

"In a groundbreaking win, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) unanimously adopted the world’s first zero-emission commercial truck requirement, the Advanced Clean Trucks rule," reports Patricio Portillo.

"The final rule will dramatically shift California’s medium- and heavy-duty truck market away from dirty fossil fuels to zero-emission technology," according to Portillo. "Beginning in 2024, manufacturers must increase their zero-emission truck sales to between 30-50% by 2030 and 40-75% by 2035."

The new rule is presented as a victory for environmental justice, eventually reducing pollution and harmful emissions from communities located near freeways. "Many of these communities, which are predominantly communities of color and low-income communities, have over 1,000 diesel trucks rumbling through per hour," according to Portillo. 

Additional coverage, written right before CARB's approval of the new rule, is also available from Ruben Aronin, who focuses on the historic significance of the new rule: "This rule promises to provide a critical market signal necessary to transform one of the most polluting industries — dirty truck transportation — into one of the cleanest and greenest."