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Dive Brief:
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Corn growers and other agricultural groups are working with the oil industry to try to block a rule from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that would limit truck emissions.
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The National Corn Growers Association and the American Farm Bureau Federation filed suit with oil and truck groupsarguing that the EPA’s heavy-duty vehicle emissions standards for the 2027 through 2032 model years would require a transition to technology that does not yet exist or operate reliably at scale.
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Farm groups are also fighting EPA emissions rules targeting passenger vehicles, with the Renewable Fuels Association and the National Farmers Union supporting separate treatment that the EPA favored battery-powered vehicles over alternative fuels.
Dive Insight:
The legal challenges come months after it was published by the EPA final emission standards designed to reduce greenhouse gas impacts by phasing out traditional transport fleets and encouraging the development of battery-powered vehicles.
The agency’s final rules, which took effect last week, laid out potential paths for heavy-duty vehicle adoption to meet the Biden administration’s climate goals, including transitioning more than 40 percent of trucks to battery-powered vehicles by 2032.
But little was said about corn-based ethanol or other alternative fuels and their role in reducing emissions, ruffling the feathers of corn growers and biofuel advocates who argue that banning renewable diesel ultimately hurts farm incomes.
“The EPA has tried to impose a one-size-fits-all approach to addressing climate change by prioritizing electric vehicles over other climate remedies like corn ethanol,” said Harold Volle, a Minnesota farmer and president of the National Corn Growers Association. statement.
The rules also raise logistics concerns for the agricultural industry, which relies on the trucking industry to transport livestock and perishables across the country.
“Unfortunately, battery-powered heavy vehicles have a short range and require hours to charge,” American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall said in a statement. “Impractical regulations will extend time on the road, putting the health and safety of drivers and animals at risk if they have to stop for long periods to charge.”
Adoption of battery-powered trucks is growing in the US, but slowly. According to a report from International Council on Clean Transportationregistrations of zero-emission heavy-duty vehicles increased from 200 in 2021 to 1,600 in 2023. Meanwhile, during the same period, registrations increased from 490,000 to 520,000 globally.