I suppose saying insanity is running rampant among California lawmakers is redundant, but it seems as if they are doing things to destroy their state’s economy on purpose.

On January 1, The Gateway Pundit reported the following:

Big rigs and buses made before 2010 are now banned from operating on California roadways.

The law, which went into effect on New Year’s Day, was part of a set of clean air regulations the California Air Resources Board passed nearly 15 years ago.

According to truck lobbying groups, the new law will prohibit about 10 percent of the commercial motor vehicles that are operating in the state.

“The rule applies to diesel vehicles that weigh at least 14,000 pounds. The air resources board said there are an estimated 200,000 vehicles that have yet to comply with the rule just days before the new year, including roughly 70,000 big rig trucks, or about 10% of the commercial motor vehicles operating in the state, according to trucking lobbying groups,” KCRA reports.

The board argued that newer engines are better at “filtering out harmful particulate matter.”

“When we passed the regulations in 2008, it was to reduce community exposure of toxic air contaminants, it is 100% to protect public health,” Gerald Berumen, spokesman for the air resources board, told the station.

The article notes:

A truck older than 2010 will be exempt if the engine is replaced with a model made in the last 12 years.

Those who drive fewer than 1,000 miles per year in the state can also apply for a low-use exemption.

The law making things more difficult for many truckers to operate comes as supply chain shortages are still a problem in many areas.

The article concludes:

“Many of us would have thought the consequences of California’s goods movements could be severe,” Rajkovacz (Joe Rajkovacz, director of government affairs for the Western States Trucking Association) said. “You can’t take that big of a percentage of the vehicles off the road, but with the slowdown in the economy, it remains to be seen what the impact will be.”

I understand the desire for cleaner air–most of us share that desire. However, to take 10 percent of the trucks off the road abruptly is going to create some serious supply-chain problems. I really wonder if Californians are happy with their elected officials.