The head of a Colorado trucking industry group is voicing worries about the Attorney General’s decision to sue the Environmental Protection Agency over vehicle emissions, stressing that the adopted standards are already “impossible” to meet.

Last week, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser announced that he is joining a coalition of states in filing a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s use of the Congressional Review Act to prohibit states from adopting stricter emissions standards for certain motor vehicles. California has received federal permission to adopt more stringent standards, with Colorado and other states following suit in adopting emissions standards.

Adopted in 1996, the Congressional Review Act allows Congress to review and overturn new federal agency regulations before they take effect. The Trump administration has invoked the law to block California’s Clean Air Act waiver, which permits the state to set vehicle emissions standards that are more stringent than federal requirements.

Weiser said the Environmental Protection Agency has has already ruled that Clean Air Act waivers are not subject to review under the Congressional Review Act. In what Weiser called a “naked attempt” to circumvent the standard review process, the current EPA submitted the waivers to Congress for review anyway.

Greg Fulton, president of the Colorado Motor Carriers Association, argued that the lawsuit is frivolous, as the emissions standards are nearly impossible for his industry to achieve by the target date.

According to Fulton, California itself hasn’t even met its own emissions standards.

The Colorado Motor Carriers Association has been a strong proponent for emissions reduction and clean energy, he said. Still, the organization has been warning the state about its inability to achieve the California standards since they were first adopted.

“I think what happens is it’s more aspirational goals versus actually realistic objectives,” Fulton said. “I think there was an assumption things would be much further along, and one of the things that’s difficult for folks to understand is when you start looking at smaller vehicles like automobiles, it’s all further along, and you don’t have some of the greater challenges of bigger vehicles. It gets exponentially more difficult.”

Electric semis are still relatively uncommon, Fulton said, and in colder climates like Colorado, they may not even be the best option.

“If I have that truck outside and charged up fully and it drops below freezing, there’s a good chance I’m gonna be around 25% less power than I had,” he said. “On top of that, if I put the heater or defroster on, I’m gonna lose that much more. So, this is not an easy thing to just write off.”

Fulton said he and other industry members told the state there were numerous ways to reduce emissions, such as renewable natural gas, but it appears that electric vehicles took precedence.

Like any new industry, “zero emission” vehicles are constantly evolving, which is another reason why Fulton said he feels the state should focus on other strategies.

“This is one of those things where it almost feels like we’re pushing the string in some ways,” he said. “We’re trying to force this issue too soon, rather than letting it evolve. That doesn’t mean we can’t make substantial emissions reductions.”

“It’s just that certain technologies are gonna take longer,” he said. 

Fulton said he’s also wondering why Weiser chose to take up this lawsuit at a time when the state is facing significant financial challenges.

“Why would be spending time and resources on this effort, rather than taking some of that time and resources and saying, ‘Okay, let’s look at these other strategies,’ or a game plan that can actually achieve greater reductions that fits well with this industry at this time?'”