California is rich in natural resources which once powered the state: natural gas deposits in the Monterey Shale formation; geothermal energy, abundant rivers and waterways such as the San Joaquin River Delta and hydroelectric dams; the Pacific coastline; 85 million acres of wildlands with 17 million of those used as commercial timberland; mines and mineral resources, vast farming and agricultural lands, and hunting and fishing.
Despite this abundance, in June 2020 the California Air Resources Board (CARB) approved regulations to require automakers to sell more electric commercial trucks, with the ultimate goal of all new trucks sold in rather state to be zero-emission by 2045.
Under the new “advanced clean trucks” rule, the number of new zero emission electric trucks would increase each year beginning in 2024. By 2035, the zero emission rule has a target of 40% of tractor trailers, 55% of pickup trucks, and 75% of delivery vans. All government-owned trucks would also need to be electric by 2035.
Every car company in California will have to have an electric or hydrogen-powered option by 2024, with CARB currently aiming for net-zero emissions in California by 2050.
By November 2022, the Globe reported California’s nonsensical diesel regulatory rules threatened to worsen the already compromised supply chain – on top of a potential rail strike at the time, which would have ground supplies throughout the country to a halt.
California’s diesel regulations were created during the last administration under then-Governor Jerry Brown. Immediately upon enactment by the CARB, and installation by truck owners, the mandatory, faulty diesel particulate filters were exploding all across the state. Ironically, the filters even fail(ed) at cleaning the air.
Some said this was a delegate ploy to usher in electric truck mandates. Gov. Brown deserves the blame all around, as does Gov. Newsom, who continues to blame rolling blackouts on “extreme weather” and “climate change.”
As California Globe has reported for several years, and has been covering since 2011:
- In 2011, California passed the Renewables Portfolio Standard setting the mandate at 33 percent renewable energy by 2020.
- When it became clear that California was nearly there, in 2015, the Legislature moved the bar again and passed SB 350 the “Clean Energy and Pollution Reduction Act of 2015.” SB 350 by Sen. President pro Tem Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles), requires the state to procure 50 percent of electricity from renewable energy and double energy efficiency savings by 2030.
- In 2018, Gov. Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 100, setting a 100 percent clean electricity goal for the state, and issued an executive order establishing a new target to achieve carbon neutrality – both by 2045.
Power outages and rolling blackouts are coming more frequently as California has taken nuclear power plants offline, and hydroelectric dams offline, while increasing renewables mandates for wind and solar.
Michael Shellengerger has been warning, “California’s bet on renewables, & its shunning of natural gas & nuclear, is directly responsible for the state’s blackouts and high electricity prices.”
California’s owners/operators of trucks, small business owners, and farmers and ranchers, whose livelihood is tied to having affordable, safe, and reliable trucks for transporting goods, were targeted by the California Air Resources Board, and required to install Diesel Particulate Filters in all commercial trucks.
And now California is heading straight into even more commercial trucking regulations with electric trucks.
The disconnect between California policies and politics are at such odds with the rest of the country, it’s a wonder the other 49 states haven’t excommunicated the Golden State from the union.
Last week, the Environmental Protection Agency announced their approval of California’s Advanced Clean Trucks regulations, officially allowing California and six others states a waiver to enforce a 2020 rule (not law), ramping up sales of zero-emission trucks and big rigs – including half of all heavy duty trucks sold by 2035.
Confirming that this is ordered by the California Air Resources Board, the CARB said:
“Promoting the development and use of advanced clean trucks will help CARB achieve its emission reduction strategies as outlined in the State Implementation Plan (SIP), Sustainable Freight Action Plan, Senate Bill (SB) 350, and Assembly Bill (AB) 32.“
In October more than 150 Republicans in the House of Representatives called on President Biden to reject California’s new radical green car regulations as the state looks to electrify its citizens’ fleet, Fox News reported.
“Earlier this year, America’s energy regulators warned states about elevated risks to the reliability of our electric grid and the increased threat of brown and black outs,” Rep. Bob Latta, R-Ohio said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
“Instead of heeding those warnings, California politicians are pursuing stifling new regulations to ban gas- and diesel-powered cars by 2035,” Latta said. “This effort will extend far beyond California’s borders and will make it more difficult for Americans to get to work, drop their kids off at school, and travel to visit loved ones.”
Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., one of the letter’s co-leads, told Fox News Digital “California’s proposal is another example of liberal elitists being detached from the real constraints on the energy grid and the average American consumer.”
Indeed.
This plea was on the heels of a visit to California by U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm during an “extreme heat event,” called so by Gov. Newsom, when a flex-alert was issued by the California Independent System Operator (CalISO) which implored residents to conserve energy between 4pm and 9pm – i.e. please don’t charge your electric cars.
Energy officials actually asked residents to avoid charging electric vehicles, and if possible not to use electricity at all during the heat wave. The temperatures were 100+ degrees in Southern California. Northern California hit 110 degrees.
It’s the “tightening available power supplies” part that has many Californians vowing to stick with their gas-powered autos and trucks. Because simultaneously, as Gov. Gavin Newsom has ordered the state to prohibit the sale of gas-powered autos by 2035, less than one week later, California energy providers announced they were not able to provide the necessary electricity to power what the state needs electrified.
Where will all of the electricity come from for the millions of electric vehicles in California’s future?
Wind and solar? Meh. Maybe California should figure out how to fix our electric grid before we outlaw gas cars and trucks.
Source: California Globe
