Down but Not Out: California’s Fight to Regulate Emissions

Art of Supply

There have been a number of efforts to regulate a transition to lower logistics-related emissions, and all of them involved the state of California and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

California always plays a unique role in these debates because they have the most air pollution in the country and also the toughest emissions regulations. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) predates the EPA. In the past, they have been able to make their own rules, only requiring waivers when newly proposed standards are tougher than Federal standards.

On May 22, 2025, the Senate voted to strip California of its ability to impose tougher standards on heavy duty trucks and ban the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035.

California may be down, but they are certainly not out. They are using other creative ways to regulate the emissions associated with logistics.

In this episode of Art of Supply, Kelly Barner looks at this alternate approach to regulation:

• The Warehouse Actions and Investments to Reduce Emissions Program (known as WAIRE) and the Warehouse Indirect Source Rule (ISR)
• How these rules are are intended to work and how they are being enforced
• Whether this alternative approach will be effective in achieving its objectives

Links:

• Examining the Practicality of the EV Truck Mandate
• Nebraska v. California: The EV Trucking Transition
• Who will decide the future of EV trucking?
• Kelly Barner on LinkedIn
• Art of Supply LinkedIn newsletter
• Art of Supply on AOP
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