By 2030, 30 percent of heavy vehicle sales in the sector are expected to be carbon neutral.
The enormous challenge of improving the environmental sustainability of America’s industrial goods sector is being taken on by the Biden administration. On Wednesday, the White House announced its goal of having 30% of industrial truck sales generate zero emissions by 2030 and 100% by 2040.
To assist carry out its objectives, the White House is meeting with stakeholders on Wednesday from the infrastructure, shipping, and commercial vehicle industries in addition to those non-binding targets. The purpose of the roundtable is to further the Biden administration’s objective of “accelerating the development of the infrastructure required to realise a zero-emissions freight ecosystem in the United States.”
It should come as no surprise that the goods sector utilises a lot of energy and pollutes the environment excessively. According to Bloomberg, the transportation industry is responsible for approximately 29% of greenhouse gas emissions in the US, with freight, which includes trucking, shipping, and railroads, accounting for over 33% of this total. Therefore, you can estimate that 10% of the nation’s carbon emissions are caused by the freight sector in the United States.
The Biden Administration intends to solicit public feedback on heavy-duty vehicle charging infrastructure as part of the rollout during election year, indicating that the plan’s details are still being worked out. The goal of the White House is to prevent a disjointed industrial EV charging network that lacks a consensus standard. It appears that in the lightweight consumer market, Tesla’s NACS is the standard option.
In addition to the recently declared industrial objectives, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Biden Administration is allocating around $1 billion in financing under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) for the purpose of replacing Class 6 and 7 vehicles, including as delivery trucks, garbage trucks, and school buses, with their electric equivalents.
The IRA stipulates that the local areas most affected by industrial pollution must get at least $400 million of the cash. The majority of truck freight routes’ short-term output is borne by 72 million Americans who live close to them, according to the White House. People of colour and those from low-income households are most likely to be severely impacted by high levels of environmental toxins, which is regrettably but not unexpected (given the history of the country).
Considering the gravity of the global climate catastrophe and the role played by the freight industry, the White House’s objectives are commendable. But there’s still a big issue: these are optional, non-binding resolutions that may be reversed by a second Trump administration, should the serial napper win reelection next year, and given public responses, they most likely would. This November, US voters will determine the outcome, just like they will with many other aspects of the country’s and the world’s future.