The Obama administration laid out a major step Friday in its fight against climate change with a plan it said would reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from medium and heavy-duty trucks and buses by 1 billion metric tons.
The matching regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Transportation Department would improve fuel efficiency standards by an average of 24 percent for medium-sized and heavy trucks, buses and big trailers through model year 2027, which would cut the output of Earth-warming carbon dioxide while saving 1.8 billion barrels of oil.
{mosads}The federal agencies said the rules, which would be the second round of truck efficiency standards from the Obama administration, would bolster energy security and spur innovation in manufacturing while saving money for consumers and businesses.
While the new standards would add up to $12,000 to the cost of a new truck, trucking companies could recoup the costs within two years, leading the industry to $170 billion in fuel savings during the life of the vehicles.
Big trucks and buses account for about one-fifth of the greenhouse gas emissions and fuel use in the transportation sector, a sector that produces 27 percent of the country’s emissions, second only to electricity generation. Those vehicles comprise only about 5 percent of the vehicles on the road.
The emissions reduction is the equivalent of the pollution from all United States residents’ energy and electricity use for a year, while the oil savings amount to the country’s annual imports from OPEC.
“We’re delivering big time on President Obama’s call to cut carbon pollution,” said EPA head Gina McCarthy said in the statement. “With emission reductions weighing in at 1 billion tons, this proposal will save consumers, businesses and truck owners money; and at the same time spur technology innovation and job-growth, while protecting Americans’ health and our environment over the long haul.”
Earlier this month, the EPA kicked off a process to regulate greenhouse gases from aircraft.
In August, the administration plans to make final its most controversial climate change regulation, limiting carbon output from power plants.
At some point this summer, the EPA will propose rules to crack down on methane emissions from the oil and natural gas sector.
But unlike some of Obama’s more controversial rules, the truck regulations are receiving cautious support from the trucking industry.
The American Trucking Associations (ATA) said it supports the rules, but it wants to make sure that the agencies do not mandate untested technology.
“Fuel is an enormous expense for our industry — and carbon emissions carry an enormous cost for our planet,” Bill Graves, president of the trucking group, said in a statement.
Glen Kedzie, who leads environmental policy for the ATA, said the federal government is generally following the advice that the industry suggested to keep technology attainable.
The industry fully supported the first round of truck efficiency rules, written in 2011.
Environmental groups cheered the EPA’s announcement.
“Making our trucks go farther on less fuel will limit climate change and oil dependency while saving consumers and businesses money, and spurring innovation,” Rhea Suh, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council, said in a statement. “We will be pushing the administration to require compliance sooner, in order to deliver these benefits more quickly.”
Sara Chieffo, vice president of government affairs for the League of Conservation Voters, said the proposal “marks another important step in the Obama administration’s plan to curb carbon pollution and combat climate change. A more efficient truck fleet will save money on shipping, driving down costs for companies and consumers.”