““This rule will only further increase costs for American families, businesses, and rural communities while fueling more inflation.”
Three Oklahomans in the U.S. House were among more than 150 Republican lawmakers who urged the Biden administration’s EPA to rescind its controversial rule aimed at increasing electric trucks on the roads.
Reps. Stephanie Bice, Kevin Hern and Josh Brecheen signed the letter in an effort led by Rep. Randy Feenstra, R-Iowa, and Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho. The 157 members of the House and Senate sent their letter this month to President Biden and EPA Administrator Michael Regan.
The rule was revealed in April and the Representatives and Senators asked that the rule be reversed.
“Additionally, we want to highlight the cost that this rule will place on average Americans and the burden it will have on farmers and businesses across the country,” they wrote, adding that the final rule will disrupt the heavy-duty truck industry by “forcing the broad adoption of heavy-duty zero emission vehicles on an extremely aggressive timeline.”
They further claimed the EV move by the Biden administration will cost nearly $1 trillion of infrastructure investment to fully electrify the U.S. commercial fleet.
“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.”
Bice, Hern and Brecheen were among the 157 who declared that the rule will harm consumers and “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.”
Click here for letter
