Samaras featured in Gizmodo

EPP Associate Professor Costa Samaras was recently featured in Gizmodo's article, California Will Require Most Trucks Sold in the State to be Electric by 2035.

In California, trucks won’t be able to pollute the air and planet for much longer. The state is approving the nation’s first-of-its-kind rule for truck manufacturers on Thursday. The goal? To make more electric trucks.

If the new rule is passed, the rule would require that auto manufacturers increase the proportion of zero-emission trucks in their sales to California from 2024 to 2035. By 2035, the state wants 55 percent of the sales from light- and medium-duty trucks to be electric. As for heavier trucks, manufacturers need to clean up 75 percent of their sales by 2035. 

Most of California’s greenhouse gas emissions come from transportation of which heavy-duty vehicles make up more than 8 percent of those emissions.

“The reduction and eventual elimination of diesel emissions near where people live is an equity issue. It’s an environmental justice issue,” Samaras said. “These pollutants, they cause real health damages. And lots of times, it has been communities of color who have borne the brunt of these types of emissions.

Samaras expects the California rule will kickstart the market and increase demand for these clean trucks in other states. 

To read the full article, go here.