'Working Against Their Own Goals': LaMalfa Blasts California Air Resources Board's Locomotive Rule

5 months ago

During remarks on the House floor, Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-CA) tore into the California Air Resources Board's new locomotive emissions rule.

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00:00Last year, the Californians Air Regulator, known as California Air Resources Board, finalized

00:06a new rule that would require freight railroads in the state to adopt zero-emissions locomotives

00:12for industrial use by the year 2030, only six years from now, and for normal hauling

00:17by 2035. It is now requesting a waiver from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to

00:22proceed with this rule. This EPA CARB rule would effectively require all locomotives

00:28to operate in a zero-emissions configuration when operating in California. Sounds nice

00:33in theory, doesn't it? This regulation would limit the useful life of thousands of locomotives

00:37currently across the rail network and requires transition to zero-emission technology. So

00:44what is that going to do to the cost of moving goods with technology that is not even yet

00:49available widely? Even by CARB's own admission, this rule will drive many short-line railroad

00:56operators out of business. Gone. Short-line railroads are very important for moving freight

01:03in the interim from manufacturers, from granaries, from wherever, out to the main line. So we're

01:10just going to eliminate them. So what will we replace them with? More trucks. We love

01:15trucks, but there's a role for trucks, for short-line, and for long-haul railroads. CARB

01:22also admits this rule will be shifting the transport of goods to many more trucks with

01:26much more truck traffic. They admit to that, which is opposite of their stated goal in

01:32reducing emissions. Rail operators have not even been able to acquire full Tier 4 locomotives

01:38yet due to the availability and the stretch in technology, which isn't there yet. We can't

01:44acquire Tier 4 locomotives, which is already being bypassed by new tiers that CARB wants

01:49to push with basically going to all-electric trains. Well, this isn't the all-electric train

01:56you have in your basement. This is real world here. It would make more sense for the bureaucrats

02:00at CARB to just take a break for a little bit from their carbon-neutral crusade and

02:05let rail operators come up to the Tier 4 standards that the locomotives that they're still trying

02:10to develop in being compliant. These Tier 4 locomotives are 85% cleaner than other older

02:18technology already. So that sounds like a win to me. You know, that's a bingo, as some

02:24might say, instead of pushing net-zero locomotives on such a ridiculous timeline. Because of

02:30their obsession with net-zero and carbon reductions, CARB is actually working against their own

02:35goals they're stating here. It is estimated that U.S. EPA approval would result in close

02:41to 65% of the nation's Class 1 railroad fleet, locomotive fleet, to be banned from operating

02:47in California by just six years from now. General Van Avast, head of the U.S. Transportation

02:55Command of our military, expressed concerns that regulation will negatively affect the

02:58economy and as well as military readiness posture. You know, moving the tanks and the

03:03heavy equipment you see sometimes on the rail, these big, long trains of military having

03:08to deploy wherever. By reducing the ability to transport this military equipment in and

03:13out of California from different parts of the country, it could severely impact their

03:18ability for military readiness. So when I asked in committee about this, of CARB yesterday,

03:22they said, well, military's going to be exempt. Well, I guess that's good. So the things that

03:27are really important, CARB is going to exempt. So I guess goods movement, movement of agricultural

03:33products, movement of food isn't as important. Instead, we're going to be force-fed this

03:37rule. A large collection of national, state, and local agriculture groups have expressed

03:42great concern that this CARB rule poses a significant danger to U.S. ag, its ability

03:47to transport ag product domestically or to our ports. We're already having enough trouble

03:51getting stuff into our ports. It needs to be stated that technology for these replacements

03:55does not yet exist on these new types of locomotives. Freight railroads contribute only 0.5 percent

04:03total U.S. greenhouse gas, as defined by WHO, emissions, and 1.7 percent to total transportation-related

04:11greenhouse gas. All of this to reduce the amount of CO2, carbon dioxide, which is currently

04:18only 0.04 percent of our atmosphere, practically a rounding error. Again, EPA approval of this

04:25rule would result in close to 65 percent of the nation's class one railroad locomotives

04:29to be banned from operating. Man, what is that going to do to our supply chain? Only

04:34by 2030, with tier four locomotives not even fully available yet, let alone the next set

04:40of technologies they're trying to mandate. It will slow our farmers from getting food

04:44to our tables and our ports, rotting in the fields or at a siding somewhere while waiting

04:50for an electric train to recharge and be able to go another hundred miles. It will delay

04:55and raise price on materials used to build and heat our homes, raising price for middle

05:00income and lower income families anyway, who are already struggling with inflation and

05:05so many policies from this administration. Every stage of automobile production and sale

05:10including EVs will be pushed by the same people who are also pushing this rule. Bureaucrats

05:14are once again going after anything carbon-related without considering the effects of this crusade

05:18against carbon. We need not follow the California Air Resources Board as a whole country.

05:24The gentleman's time has expired.

05:25They're not even elected. They're appointed by the governor. Yeah, they might be elected

05:28locally to a supervisor or something, but they're not elected by anybody to be on the

05:33carb board. I yield back.

05:34The gentleman yields back.

'Working Against Their Own Goals': LaMalfa Blasts California Air Resources Board's Locomotive Rule

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