FIRST ON FOX — A conservative pro-business group and Midwest trucking operators say California regulators have illegally sidestepped federal law to force a transition to electric trucks.
The American Free Enterprise Chamber of Commerce (AmFree) and trucking operators allege in a new lawsuit that California has created a cartel arrangement with the nation’s largest heavy-duty truck companies to phase out internal-combustion engines by 2036. The alleged scheme involves the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and all major manufacturers of gas-powered heavy-duty trucks that entered into an agreement called the Clean Truck Partnership last year.
“The agreement bakes into it a number of rules that California has been trying to get in place that will mandate the complete electrification of the trucking sector in just over a decade,” said Michael Buschbacher, lead attorney for AmFee.
While most states are prohibited from setting their own motor vehicle emissions standards, California has exclusive permission to do so under the Clean Air Act of 1967, so …