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Energy & Environment

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The Big Story

Exits from Calif. deal could create window for newbies

As the nation’s major truckmakers seek to abandon California’s stricter-than-federal emissions rules, experts are weighing whether this U-turn could allow new players to disrupt the market.

“All your competitors just announced their strategy,” Craig Segall, former deputy executive officer and assistant chief counsel of the California Air Resources Board (CARB), told The Hill.

“How quickly can you ramp up to eat their lunch?” Segall asked.

This now unmasked strategy — an about-face on compliance with the Golden State’s heavy-duty vehicle standards — came to light this week when four manufacturers sued California regulators over the matter.

Soon after, the Federal Trade Commission declared that a voluntary “Clean Truck Partnership” between the companies and the state was “unenforceable.”

Last week’s lawsuit, filed Monday by Daimler Truck, International Motors, PACCAR and the Volvo Group, alleged the federal government had deemed California’s emissions rules “unlawful” in June.

At the time, President Trump signed off on three congressional resolutions revoking a Biden administration waiver that had allowed the state to set these rules. Under the 1970 Clean Air Act, California can create emissions standards that are stricter than federal norms but must acquire a waiver from the Environmental Protection Agency to do so.

Segall described Monday’s lawsuit as “an audacious move,” noting in a Thursday op-ed that truckmakers just two years ago supported the Clean Truck Partnership, which he helped negotiate.

He accused companies such as Daimler, which controls 40 percent of the country’s truck market, of “badly letting the trucking industry down.” Meanwhile, he warned, China is accelerating electric truck adoption.

Pointing to the fact that delivery firms such as Amazon have smaller electric trucks operating nationwide, Segall forecast that “giant semitrailers” will make a similar transition soon.

With that in mind, he stressed there is “an interesting opening” for other competitors, such as Chinese electric truck startup Windrose.

Industry veteran Rustam Kocher echoed these sentiments in a recent post on LinkedIn, calling upon Windrose, other Chinese e-truck manufacturers and Tesla Semi to fill in this gap and “let the market-share eating competition commence.”

“This industry is changing, just like the light-duty industry is changing,” Kocher told The Hill.

Read more here, from The Hill’s Sharon Udasin.

Welcome to The Hill’s Energy & Environment newsletter, I’m Rachel Frazin — keeping you up to speed on the policies impacting everything from oil and gas to new supply chains.

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Essential Reads

How policy will affect the energy and environment sectors now and in the future:

Navarro: India must stop buying Russian oil

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said India must stop buying and selling Russian oil if it wishes to garner favor with the Trump administration, which has upped tariffs on New Delhi to 50 percent.

Full Story

Dangerous surf expected from stronger, bigger Hurricane Erin

The national weather forecasters are warning of potentially “life-threatening surf and rip currents” as Hurricane Erin makes its way along the U.S.’s eastern coastline in the coming days.

Full Story

Fewer Americans than ever confident in food safety regulations: Gallup

Confidence in the government’s ability to ensure food safety in the U.S. has hit a new low — a drop driven largely by distrust among Democrats, according to a poll released Monday.

Full Story

What We’re Reading

News we’ve flagged from other outlets touching on energy issues, the environment and other topics:

Yosemite Employee Fired After Flying Trans Pride Flag (Bloomberg)
These crabs probably saved your life. Can we save theirs? (The Washington Post)

What Others are Reading

Two key stories on The Hill right now:

Speaker Johnson vows to fight California Democrats’ ‘illegal power grab’

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) slammed California Democrats’ proposed House map on Monday, saying he’s taking measures to stop the new congressional lines from advancing. Read more

Jeffries: Noem will be among the first ‘hauled up to Congress’ if Democrats retake House

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem would be a top target of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee if Democrats retake the House in the midterms. Read more