Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) introduced a bill on Thursday that has disrupted Democratic plans for establishing zero-emission trains.
“I’m effectively derailing another Green New Deal initiative,” Ernst communicated to Breitbart News.
“We need to keep those outlandish California train concepts from becoming a reality. Railroads are vital for transporting both agricultural products and goods that our economy depends on, so the notion of zero-emission trains is just off the mark,” she added.
Ernst proposed changes to eliminate excessive commercial regulations and motivate locomotive laws that would prevent Democratic states like California from using a waiver from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The waiver would mandate zero emissions for industrial usage by 2030 and require that all new trains be zero-emission by 2035.
California had sought a waiver from the Biden EPA for this proposal last year.
The state’s rules restrict operation of trains older than 23 years, limiting their idle time, and they would have required expenditure accounts for railway operators based on emissions.
The EPA considered the exemption, but California decided to withdraw the request earlier this year.
While states like California are contemplating rejecting national guidelines, state senator Hawkeye recently held a hearing on how Congress can support the growth of small-scale manufacturing in America.
During that hearing, Ernst, who chairs the Senate Small Business Committee, put forth a bill aiming to double the individual loan limits for 7(a) and 504 small manufacturing loans from $5 million to $10 million.
She expressed:
I have faith in the talent of our workforce and in a revitalized American manufacturing sector that will bolster our economic security.
“Made in America” should become the norm instead of an exception.
Under President Trump’s stewardship, we’re beginning to witness a resurgence in manufacturing and an industrial revival throughout Iowa and the nation.
She remarked, “No group is more eager to take part in this than small manufacturers, who constitute 98% of US manufacturers.”
