EPA Strengthens Greenhouse-Gas Efficiency Goals for Big Rigs
- Transportation has eclipsed power plants for carbon pollution
- Truckers had fought proposal that will drive up truck costs
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, resisting lobbying from the trucking industry, unveiled tough new regulations to reduce carbon emissions from tractor-trailers and other long-haul trucks in support of a key policy goal of President Barack Obama’s administration.
The EPA and the U.S. Transportation Department on Tuesday issued regulations that require trucks become more efficient through 2027. The final rules achieve 10 percent more carbon emission and fuel-consumption reductions than last year’s proposed rules, likely raising the price tag price for such vehicles but cutting operating costs. A big part of the greenhouse-gas reductions are expected to come from engine improvements, cutting fuel consumption by up to 5 percent, benefiting companies like Cummins Inc.