Attorney General Brenna Bird joins letter urging EPA to reject California electric truck rule

Trucks and cars drive on the New Jersey Turnpike on February 23, 2005 in Elizabeth, New Jersey. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird joined a letter urging the Environmental Protection Agency to reject California’s request for a waiver from new standards that it said could ban traditional gas-powered trucks from the state.

California requested a waiver of priority to implement the administrative rule under a 2023 California regulation called “Advanced Clean Fleets,” imposed by the California Air Resources Board. The rule would ban the sale of larger diesel vehicles starting in 2036 and ban combustion engines in medium- and heavy-duty vehicles by 2045. The letter, written by Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers, urged the EPA to reject the state’s request because of its impact on other states.

“Through Advanced Clean Fleets, California is attempting to export its radical climate agenda to our states, leveraging its large population, market share, and access to international ports on the West Coast to force a nationwide ban on gasoline-powered trucks,” the letter stated. “…A California electric truck mandate means more battery-electric trucks driving across our states—a mandate our states did not ask for and do not support.”

Bird also joined a lawsuit led by Nebraska opposing the legislation, which she and other opponents say will force trucking companies nationwide to have all-electric fleets by 2042. At a news conference in May, Bird said allowing California to adopt the state’s regulations would create supply chain issues and increase costs for consumers because trucking companies would have to comply with the standards to operate in the state, even if the companies are based outside of California.

Bird repeated those arguments in a statement released Tuesday after joining the letter, saying that “California cannot set the rules for the rest of the country.”

“If left unchecked, California’s unconstitutional green fleet order will destroy jobs, raise prices for hardworking families, destroy our energy grids and devastate the supply chain,” Bird said. “But not in my department. We are fighting to cut California’s green fleet order.”

In addition to Iowa and Nebraska, the letter was signed by the attorneys general of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming.