Ageism: California Gov. Gavin Newsom Now Destroying RV Industry with Clean Air Regs

A new California Air Resources Board regulation is impacting diesel motorhome sales, and not just in California, but in five other states that have adopted California’s absurd clean air regulations.

This is age discrimination given that most RVers are retired.

As the Globe has reported, in 2023, California Governor Gavin Newsom proudly declared a “clean air” policy which has the potential to put the state’s drivers in harms way:

“California became the first jurisdiction in the world today to end the sales of traditional combustion trucks by 2036, creating a path to 100% zero emission medium heavy-duty trucks on the roads in California by 2045. California also became the first state in the nation to implement emissions standards for trains,” Newsom said.

“The future happens here first,” Newsom declared, “and California is once again showing the world what real climate action looks like.”

If the future is life without gas and diesel powered vehicles apparently. “Real climate action” means absolutely nothing other than the destruction of our way of life.

Newsom’s “Advanced Clean Trucks” regulations, as with passenger vehicles, call for phasing out gas and diesel engines and replacing them with plug-in electric and hydrogen-electric vehicles.

The governor has gone after commercial big rigs and trucks, and now, diesel-powered RVs.

That’s because on October 24, the California Air Resources Board amended its Advanced Clean Truck (ACT) regulations, RVTravel.com reported. “Essentially, these new regulations require that all vehicles over 8,500 pounds GVWR (gross vehicle weight rating) must produce zero emissions. A credit system allows manufacturers to continue to sell a given number of fossil-fuel engines in California, provided they have non-polluting vehicles to offset.”

CARB’s Advanced Clean Truck (ACT) regulations are impacting all commercial and recreational vehicles at this point – including tow-trucks.

“However, truck manufacturers have not developed electric alternatives to meet a towing or recovery truck’s range, demanding performance and safety standards,” said Keep California Motorists Safe, a coalition of small businesses, truck drivers, and motorists.

Specifically, tow trucks aren’t there yet – not even close. And there are other issues to address.

“Since the heavy-duty electric truck regulations were enacted this year, the importation of medium—to heavy truck combustion engine chassis to California has declined dramatically,” said Keep California Motorists Safe. “The ACT and Heavy-Duty Omnibus (Omnibus) regulations cut off the supply of combustion engine trucks before truck manufacturers produced electric alternatives that meet a tow truck’s range, performance, and safety standards.”

Gov. Newsom and the CARB are putting the cart before the horse, damn the consequences.

As the Globe reported, the benevolent California Air Resources Board was scheduled to consider amendments to the Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) regulation – and they did in October as RVTravel.com reported.

In 2023, the California Air Resources Board approved what the Newsom Administration characterized as a “nation-leading regulation” to phase out the sales of medium—and heavy-duty combustion engines, which took effect in January 2024. The regulation began a national movement to transition America’s trucking industry to Zero-Emission Vehicles (ZEVs) by 2035.

Proving that stupidity is contagious, 5 other states joined the CARB Advanced Clean Truck bandwagon: California, Oregon, Washington, New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts – residents of these states will not be able to register a motorhome that is not in compliance with the CARB RV/Truck regulation.

Interesting that Oregon joined in this regulation as one of their biggest industries is RV manufacturing.

The US Department of Transportation and EPA will need to intervene ASAP once the new Trump administration is sworn in. These are business-killing regulations that don’t move the needle one bit on “clean air.”

Passed in 2021, the California Air Resources Board announced “plans to accelerate the first wave of zero-emission trucks.”

And the CARB lies again claiming “fossil fuels that power them are the largest contributors to the formation of ozone, greenhouse gas emissions, fine particulate matter (PM2.5), and toxic diesel particulate matter.”

We asked why California’s Air Board is using flawed PM2.5 (particulate matter) deaths research, much of which has been conducted by Chinese investigators, to ban diesel trucks in the state? California has record low pollution levels. And CARB admits trucks represent only 6% of the vehicles on California’s roads. Other than further destroying the trucking industry and the businesses of independent owner/operators…

The science behind these regulations is not only dubious, it is from China, which has a strong motive to see that the United States succumbs to the climate change movement, much of which is funded by China, as Real Clear Energy reported: “For China, climate change offers a strategic opportunity. Decarbonizing the rest of the world makes China’s economy stronger – it weakens its rivals’ economies, reduces the cost of energy for its hydrocarbon-hungry economy, and sinks energy-poor India as a potential Indo-Pacific rival.”

This is the fraud that Gov. Newsom and Democrats are perpetrating on the people. Lies, fraudulent data, Chinese studies, UN Agendas… The people need to wake up and fight back. Maybe a RV/trucker convoy around the State Capitol would get their attention.