Consumer Reports filed formal comments with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regarding its proposed rule, “Control of Air Pollution from New Motor Vehicles: Heavy-Duty Engine and Vehicle Standards.”
CR notes that while the proposal is a good start, EPA can and should go further to lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and nitrogen oxides (NOx). Such reductions are imperative to lower dangerous tailpipe emissions, to increase adoption of zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs), and to achieve the White House goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 50-52% compared to 2005 levels by 2030.
Heavy-duty vehicles deliver consumer goods to warehouses and homes across the country. As e-commerce expands, consumer reliance on these trucks will grow. Such reliance has hidden costs in the form of harmful air pollution, to consumers making purchases, and to communities living near freight routes.
These comments were submitted to EPA by Dr. Quinta Warren, Associate Director of Sustainability Policy, and Mary Greene, Senior Policy Counsel for Sustainability Policy, on behalf of CR on May 16, 2022.