President Donald Trump dealt California Governor Gavin Newsom a defeat this week as California regulators voted to repeal a mandate that required trucking fleets to purchase zero-emissions, electric-powered vehicles.
As Breitbart News reported in 2022, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) proposed a mandate for trucks, as part of Newsom’s push for electric vehicles. In 2023, CalMatters.org noted, CARB adopted the new rules, which would ban diesel rig sales by 2036 and electrify all of the trucking fleets in the state by 2042.
But Republicans — and economic reality — intervened in Newsom’s plans.
Politico reported this week:
The California Air Resources Board — a powerful agency that sets emissions standards for vehicles, power plants and other polluters — voted to repeal its zero-emission purchasing rule for private fleets, the final remnant of the state’s aggressive push to mandate a rapid electric transition in the trucking sector.
That decision was a formality after the agency failed to secure permission to enforce its stricter-than-federal Advanced Clean Fleets rule before President Donald Trump took office.
But coming on the heels of Trump’s revocation of a companion rule that would have required truck manufacturers to increasingly build and sell more electric models, the move shows how thoroughly Republicans have upended California’s strategy.
Newsom’s notorious press office — which spends much of its time trolling Trump — tried to put a brave face on the change on Thursday, claiming that the state is making progress toward its electric vehicle goals.
However, as Breitbart News has reported, electric vehicle sales in the state have been too weak to meet Newsom’s overall goals, placing the future of his ban on gas-powered passenger vehicles by 2035 in doubt.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Zionist Conspiracy Wants You, now available on Amazon. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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