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As part of Biden administration environmental policies, EPA finalizes tougher emissions standards for heavy-duty vehicles. Groups call for zero-emission trucks.

The Biden administration finalized tougher pollution standards for heavy-duty vehicles like large trucks, delivery vans, and buses, starting with the model year 2027. 

The Environmental Protection Agency’s new rule is to cut down on the smog and soot from heavy-duty trucks by requiring them to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions by 50% by 2045. 

CNN reports that the new rule would protect public health. According to EPA Administrator Michale Regan, 72 million people live near truck freight routes, including the most vulnerable populations in historically overburdened communities. 

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Transportation is the largest source of planet-warming emissions in the US, with average household vehicles making up over 50% of the sector’s total emissions. Heavy-duty vehicles like big trucks and buses make up about 23%; fewer of them are on the roads, but because of their size and their fuel requirements, they contribute an outsized proportion of air pollution and planet-warming emissions.

A Mack LR fully-electrical trash truck was parked behind the speaker’s podium during the new rule announcement ceremony. 

However, environmental and public health groups have called for even tougher standards. 

Britt Carmon, a clean vehicles advocate for the Natural Resources Defense Council, said that there’s much more to be done and urged the EPA to bring new rules that would support the transition to zero-emissions trucks.

Nikola, an electrical engineer, simplifies intricate sustainability subjects for his audience. A staunch environmental conservationist, he embodies his beliefs daily through recycling and cultivating his own food.

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