California could ban diesel trucks by 2040

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California could ban diesel trucks by 2040

California regulators could ban diesel commercial trucks by the year 2040, as the state seeks to phase out gas-powered vehicles in the coming decades in an effort to combat climate change.

The California Air Resources Board staff has proposed a measure that would require medium and heavy-duty trucks entering ports and rail yards to be zero emission by 2035 and that state and local government fleets do so by 2027, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The proposal said it would be the next significant step in accelerating a zero emission ZE transportation system, as well as a more equitable future in California.

The board is expected to consider it on October 27.

The proposal follows a vote in August that would stop the sale of gas-powered cars by 2035 in an effort to fight climate change.

Chris Shimoda, vice president of the California Trucking Assn, said there was no infrastructure to support this. He said something to the newspaper.

The phasing out of gas vehicles would put pressure on state leaders to act quickly to prepare for the millions of electric vehicles that will travel on the state's roadways without much interruption.

The proposal would change how the American trucking industry does business. The report said that the diesel truck is cheap, easy to run, durable and able to carry tons of cargo.

The price paid by communities near ports or warehouses where such trucks operate has been high. The pollution from diesel engines has been linked to cancer, asthma, and other ailments. Amazon, Walmart and other companies would have until 2042 to convert their trucks in the state to zero emission emissions.

The state regulators wrote that they had legal and moral obligations to lessen the pollution that has been left by trucks in many vulnerable communities.