We all know by now that the California Air Resources Board has banned the sale of traditional combustion trucks – that run of diesel – by 2036 in the state. California now requires fully electric truck fleets. Recently, CARB unanimously adopted its Advanced Clean Fleets regulation phasing in mandates for medium- and heavy-duty truck operators in California to buy 100 percent zero-emission vehicles and remove from their fleets internal combustion engine vehicles at the end of their useful life.
What we don’t know is that this regulation will come at the expense of the developing countries that are the basis of the supply chain of EV battery materials. California’s actions support exploitation of cheap, disposable workforces in other countries and environmental degradation at countries outside the California “air bubble”.
According to most recent data, there were approximately 1.8 million diesel trucks in California in 2021. Of these, around 1.5 million were heavy-duty trucks, while the remaining 300,000 were medium-duty trucks. Most diesel trucks were owned by businesses, with only a small percentage owned by individuals.
California is home to the largest diesel truck market in the United States. These trucks are used for a variety of purposes, including transportation of goods and services, construction, and agriculture. While diesel trucks are an essential part of the state’s economy, they also contribute significantly to air pollution.
Back in 2021, I co-authored the Pulitzer Prize nominated book “Clean Energy Exploitations – Helping Citizens Understand the Environmental and Humanity Abuses That Support Clean Energy. The book does an excellent job of discussing the lack of transparency to the world of the green movement’s impact upon humanity exploitations in the developing countries that are mining for the exotic minerals and metals required to create the batteries needed to store “green energy”.
In these developing countries, these mining operations exploit child labor, and are responsible for the most egregious human rights’ violations of vulnerable minority populations. These operations are also directly destroying the planet through environmental degradation.
Read the rest of this piece at Heartland.org.
Ron Stein is an engineer who, drawing upon 25 years of project management and business development experience, launched PTS Advance in 1995. He is an author, engineer, and energy expert who writes frequently on issues of energy and economics.
Photo: courtesy Heartland.
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