Pennsylvania’s Peter Brothers Trucking delivers goods all across America. Owner Brian Wanner says Pennsylvania bureaucrats now are driving him out of his home state.
“We have no say,” complains Wanner in my new video. “We can’t do anything about it.”
“No say” because Pennsylvania’s new rules don’t come from Pennsylvania. They come from California.
“I don’t want to be anything like California!” complains Wanner.
Too bad for him and other Pennsylvania truck owners, because Pennsylvania’s Environmental Quality Board decided their state will automatically copy California regulations.
California’s rules will raise the price of a new truck by about one-third. Trucks that once cost $190,000 will now cost about $260,000.
California regulators said this new air-pollution regulation is needed because the trucks Wanner drives “contribute greatly to … serious health and welfare problems.”
That’s ridiculous, says Wanner. “We have come so far in the last 40 years. In 1980, one truck produced as much (pollution) as 60 trucks today.”
“So to reduce pollution, we want people to buy new trucks,” I point out.
“But if you put these costs on us that we cannot afford, we’re going to just run the older trucks!” responds Wanner.
“The regulators don’t think about that?” I ask.
“They do not!” Wanner replies. “They do not see the consequences of what they’re doing.”
Now truckers like Wanner will just buy trucks in neighboring states.
“We can go to Ohio and get cheaper trucks,” he says.
So there won’t be any pollution reduction. The new rule will just hurt Pennsylvanians who sell trucks.
Who are these regulators? Pennsylvania’s Environmental Quality Air Board is mostly made up of people from unrelated departments, like the Fish and Boat Commission, the Game Commission, the Historical & Museum Commission. I doubt that many know much about air pollution.
“The whole idea of having a regulatory board like this is, ‘Oh, these people are experts,'” says attorney Caleb Kruckenberg of the Pacific Legal Foundation, “‘They know what they’re talking about. They’re smarter than the lawmakers.’ But if you look at the board, that’s not true. These are just random bureaucrats who work in the government, and they say, ‘I don’t know. Let’s follow California.'”
Kruckenberg is suing Pennsylvania on behalf of truckers like Wanner, arguing that what Pennsylvania does violates the Constitution.
“Nobody in Pennsylvania has ever voted for the standards that now control Pennsylvania.”
I push back. “So what? California seems to have a lot of money. I could see a state saying, ‘Yeah, let their regulators figure out how we reduce pollution, and we’ll save money doing what they do.'”
“If people want something,” Kruckenberg replies, “their legislature is supposed to pass it.”
California’s rules will soon get still more expensive because Gov. Gavin Newsom has decreed that soon, all new vehicles must be electric.
“But electricity comes from fossil fuels!” Kruckenberg points out. In Pennsylvania, some comes from coal, and most comes from natural gas.
So to power all-electric trucks, Pennsylvania will burn more fossil fuels.
Still another problem: electric trucks are heavier.
“That’s harder on the roads,” says Wanner. Also, “electric trucks have a very low mileage radius, so you can’t work all day. It’s nothing that you can take across the United States.”
Pennsylvania’s regulators don’t seem to care. They just want to do what California does.
“Why would we allow our state to give away their lawmaking procedures to California?” asks Wanner. “That’s not the American way. If we want to follow California, we can move there! I don’t want to be anything like California.”
If Pennsylvania’s Environmental Quality Board were composed of “experts,” I’m not sure there would be any difference. How many times have we been led into disasters because of the experts?
Yes, I want trained dentists to care for my teeth, expert engineers to build our bridges, trained firefighters and police to keep us safe.
In so many other areas, after some research, I look with analytical eye to judge for myself whether what the experts are saying makes sense. Often, it does not.
This happened in 1991 when California decided to (early) adopt 1994 EPA emission standards for diesel trucks and busses, instead of accepting the latest 1991 standards. Truck and bus fleets simply kept their old heavy trucks and busses, and rebuilt them as needed. Net result, pollution was worse than if California had just stayed with 1991 EPA standards. Fleet operators would then have purchased some new trucks and busses which would have reduced pollution.
California in effect has taken cars off the road that will never pass the smog requirements, trucks also. I have a 1993 Cadillac with 22,000 miles on it. This could be a truck. The car is perfect right out of the showroom condition. The state will not issue a permit, registration for the car to be driven on California roads. This is because the state smogs cars every two years and many older cars don’t pass the smog test due to many reasons, however, some will never pass. ie, a new car in 70’s, 80’s and some in the 90’s right out of the showroom can’t pass do to how smog machine is programed. These smog machines get software updates that is based on pass and fail results from prior years and the state analyzes that data to ever push the envelope so to speak to fail cars beyond a manufacturer date. In California I believe the plans are to not have cars, trucks I would think also, not older than six years and or with above a set milage. This in effect has now removed vehicles from California roads that tantamounts to the state stealing these vehicles! I believe that urban areas where cars and trucks are owned, that the state can then update the smog machines with software that will be specific to that area, more stringent forcing people out of their cars and onto public transportation. It’s all about Communist control! You will comply or else. Or else the state will take your car, truck or..
Perhaps RV storage where I store my beautiful 1993 Cadillac will someday tell me the state has now made it illegal to store vehicles older than six years old and or mileage over… Perhaps the state will order insurance companies not to insure vehicles over six years old and or over… milage! This is about control, not smog, Communist control. WAKE UP AMERICA THE PARTY IS ENDING, THE CLOCK IS NOW TICKING AT MIDNIGHT! 😮