Oklahoma AG Joins 23 States to Challenge EPA's Electric Truck Mandate Citing Economic Concerns and Regulatory Overreach

Attorney General Gentner Drummond, representing Oklahoma, has taken a stance against what is seen as the overreach of the Biden-Harris administration's push towards electric vehicles, specifically for the trucking industry. In a recent move, Drummond, alongside 23 other state attorneys general, submitted a brief to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit challenging the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) new mandate for heavy-duty vehicle emissions. The directive put forth in April requires truck manufacturers to considerably switch gears towards producing electric models.

This mandate from the EPA, according to Drummond's brief, skirts too close to regulatory overreach by attempting to enforce a drastic increase in the number of battery-powered heavy-duty trucks sold in the United States. As reported by the State of Oklahoma's Office of the Attorney General, the mandate's goal is to boost the sale of electric heavy-duty trucks from a mere .1 percent to 45 percent within the next seven years.

Explaining the rationale behind the action, Drummond stated, "The heavy-duty trucking industry moves $30 billion worth of freight every day. This outrageous edict, the product of an overzealous environmental agenda, would cause major disruptions and deliver a significant blow to the U.S. economy. Prices would go up on all types of goods and the stability of our electric grid would be in jeopardy,” These comments highlight concerns about potential economic impacts, including increasing prices of goods and stability issues with the nation's electric grid infrastructure, as per the State of Oklahoma's Office of the Attorney General.

The group of states, which includes not just Oklahoma but also Texas, Florida, and Wyoming, among others, argues that this is a matter that should be openly debated and decided by Congress and the states, not just an agency like the EPA. The brief posits that such a rule commands a major question, which requires clear congressional authorization – something the attorney general asserts is lacking in this instance. The implication of allowing the electric-truck mandate to proceed without proper debate, they say, would be to "short-circuit" an important and necessary policy conversation.