Proposed cap-and-trade legislation will impose significant costs on the trucking industry and all consumers while doing little to reduce carbon emissions from trucking, American Trucking Associations First Vice-Chairman Barbara Windsor said Oct. 21 at a press conference on Capitol Hill.

Windsor, president of Hahn Transportation in New Market, Md., explained that the legislation cannot reduce carbon emissions in trucks because the trucking industry is not a discretionary user of fuel. Proponents of cap-and-trade believe that increasing the price of fuel will encourage the use of more fuel-efficient vehicles or alternative-fueled vehicles, but the trucking industry has no such options.

Windsor's remarks followed the release of a report by U.S. Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) and Kit Bond (R-Mo.) that said a cap-and-trade policy like the one in the Waxman-Markey bill would asses $3.6tr in gas taxes on American families and businesses. This includes $1.3tr in diesel fuel taxes.

"ATA strongly supports efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and make this country more energy independent," said Windsor. "However, the proposed cap-and-trade system simply will increase the cost of diesel fuel, while failing to reduce carbon emissions from the trucking industry."

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