EPA Truck Rules To Reduce Carbon Emissions, Obama Looking To Cement His Environmental Legacy

The Obama administration is set to announce on Friday rules that would cut the greenhouse gas emissions for the trucks that crisscross the country, delivering various goods and providing a necessary lifeblood for the economy. The rules are expected to raise the emission standards for semi-trucks to curb the carbon contributions that add to rising global temperatures and climate change.

The announcement is the latest in a series of Environmental Protection Agency rules laid out by a president who seems set on reforming the American environmental footprint a main point of his legacy. One of the more recent proposals aimed at limiting the emissions of America’s coal power plants drew the ire of Republicans in Congress who claimed that the new rules would unnecessarily dampen economic growth and performance.

Friday’s announcement is expected to detail a partnership between the EPA and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, according to the New York Times. While big trucks are expected to be the main target of the new rules, smaller vehicles that are still bigger than pickup trucks, like delivery trucks and buses, will still feel the squeeze.

The reforms could have some real costs associated with them, too. For the bigger trucks, the cost of replacing or upgrading technologies in the vehicles to meet the rumored one-third increase in fuel efficiency could range from between $10,000 and $12,000 per vehicle, though smaller trucks will be cheaper. The standards are expected to apply only to vehicles built from 2019 to 2027, according to a source cited in the Times.

The rules announcement will precede a period for public comment on the rules.

An earlier, similar proposal was said the rules would cut carbon emissions by millions of tons and save millions of barrels of oil. That can be major; trucks make up one-quarter of the carbon emissions from vehicles in the United States but just 4 percent of the total traffic.

In addition to these rules and the power plant emission rules, the Obama administration has made the effort to increase fuel efficiency standards in passenger vehicles as well.

The recent focus on environmental emission standards for the president is reportedly a result of the president feeling more free to focus on his agenda. Following the midterm elections and in light of a strengthening economy, Obama decided to tackle some more personal issues.