Hinds Today

U.S. Senators Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), along with U.S. Representatives Trent Kelly (R-Miss.), Michael Guest (R-Miss.), and Mike Ezell (R-Miss.), are among 157 lawmakers urging the Biden administration to overturn its electric vehicle mandate on trucks, tractors, buses, and semis.

The demand was issued in a letter to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan regarding the final rule titled “Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standards for Heavy-Duty Vehicles – Phase 3,” published on April 22, 2024.

“This final rule, which encompasses heavy-duty vehicles ranging from delivery trucks and school buses to tractors and semis, would disrupt the heavy-duty truck industry by forcing the broad adoption of heavy-duty zero-emission vehicles on an extremely aggressive timeline, despite these vehicles currently being less than 1% of sales,” the lawmakers wrote. “According to a recent study, it would cost nearly $1 trillion in infrastructure investment alone to fully electrify the U.S. commercial fleet, which does not include the expense of purchasing new semis. Additionally, the cost for an electric semi-truck averages over $400,000 while a comparable diesel Class 8 truck costs around $180,000 – meaning electric trucks cost an average of 122% more than a normal semi.”

“Our farmers and agricultural industry will be especially hurt by this new mandate. According to the latest agriculture census by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, there are 3,161,820 trucks (including pickups) on over 1.4 million farms and 3,784,743 tractors on over 1.5 million farms that would see higher equipment costs and tighter margins due to this misguided rule. These numbers also do not account for the small independent truckers, trucking companies, and truck dealerships throughout the U.S. that will be impacted. Not only would this rule harm consumers but it would also exacerbate consolidation by effectively forcing our small trucking companies out of business that cannot afford this hasty transition to electric or hydrogen-powered trucks,” they added.

Twenty-nine Senators and 128 Members of Congress signed the bicameral letter supporting this stance.

The American Trucking Association has expressed support for these lawmakers’ efforts to reverse the rule, describing it as “unworkable.”

Wicker and Hyde-Smith are original cosponsors of the Choice in Automobile Retail Sales (S.3094), which aims to prohibit the EPA from moving forward with its EV mandate for passenger cars and trucks or any similar future rules that would limit new motor vehicles based on engine type.