Connecticut backs down from zero-emission mandate timeline

Connecticut has backed off a plan that would ban the sale of gas-powered vehicles by 2035 and the American Trucking Associations (ATA) has welcomed the news.

Responding to the “growing number of states that are rejecting California’s” EV mandates, ATA president and CEO Chris Spear released the following statement:

“The tide is turning as state officials across the country wake up to the reality that California’s electric-truck mandates are bad policy that carry serious political consequences. Technically unachievable standards and unrealistic timelines that set the trucking industry and consumers up for failure are not how we achieve our shared goal of further reducing emissions. 

“As Connecticut, North Carolina, and Maine have realized, blindly following California’s sure-to-fail approach is not the only option. Ensuring the necessary infrastructure is in place and allowing for a range of technological solutions to prevail, rather than one-size-fits-all mandates, is how we succeed together on the road to zero emissions.

“We’ll continue to work with EPA on a uniform, national standard that accounts for the operational realities of the trucking industry and provides a realistic path forward for the nation.”