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close video Making renewable energy switch will ‘cost a lot more’ than California thinks: Edward Ring

California Policy Center Senior Fellow Edward Ring argues storage and distribution of wind and solar energy must be improved before making a fully renewable transition.

California air regulators approved regulation Friday to ban the sale of traditional combustion trucks – that run of diesel – by 2036 in the state.

The rule must now be approved or denied by President Biden's U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. California's vehicle emissions standards are regularly followed by other states.

Known as Advanced Clean Fleets, this action puts the Golden State on the path toward fully transitioning medium and heavy-duty trucks there to zero-emissions technology by 2045. 

Major fleet operators also have an option to begin that process next year. 

Big rigs, local delivery and government fleets must transition by 2035, garbage trucks and local buses must be zero-emission by 2039 and all other vehicles covered by the rules must be zero-emission by 2042, according to the office of Gov. Gavin Newsom.

BIDEN ADMIN SAYS CALIFORNIA CAN REQUIRE HALF OF HEAVY TRUCKS SOLD TO BE ELECTRIC BY 2035

FILE – A truck departs from a Port of Oakland shipping terminal on Nov. 10, 2021, in Oakland, Calif. On Friday, April 28, 2023, California regulators voted to end the sale of new diesel-powered big rigs and buses in the state by 2036. (AP Photo/Noah Berger, File / AP Newsroom)

Companies would be required to disclose their use of big rigs by 2024.

This adds to California's Advanced Clean Trucks rule, which was approved by the Biden administration in March. That rule requires manufacturers to accelerate sales of new zero-emissions heavy-duty trucks by 2035. 

The California Air Resources Board also OKed a first-in-the-country rule to limit train pollution. 

That regulation aims to accelerate cleaner locomotive technologies, limit idling and require newly built passenger and freight trains to be zero-emissions by 2030 and 2035, respectively. 

"The two regulations work in tandem to drastically cut air pollution – especially in disadvantaged communities – and achieve Governor Newsom’s bold vision for [zero emissions vehicles] in California," the governor's office said in a release, noting that vulnerable communities located near trucking corridors and warehouse locations have some of the worst air nationwide. 

Of the top 10 most ozone-polluted cities in the U.S., six are in California, according to an American Lung Association's State of the Air report.

FILE – Trucks line up to enter a Port of Oakland shipping terminal on Nov. 10, 2021, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Noah Berger, File / AP Newsroom)

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The trucks rule is expected to generate $26.6 billion in health savings, and fleet owners will save an estimated $48 billion from the transition to cleaner vehicles.

The reduced nitrogen oxide and diesel pollution from trains will reportedly bring an estimated $32 billion in health savings by preventing 3,200 premature deaths and 1,500 emergency room visits and hospitalizations.

"The future happens here first, and California is once again showing the world what real climate action looks like," Newsom said. "Last year, our state approved one of the world’s first regulations requiring all new car sales to be zero emissions. Now, with these actions requiring all new heavy-duty truck sales to be zero emission and tackling train pollution in our state, we’re one step closer to achieving healthier neighborhoods and cleaner air for all Californians."

FILE – A semi-truck turns into an Amazon Fulfillment center in Eastvale, California, on Nov. 12, 2020. (Watchara Phomicinda/The Orange County Register via AP, File / AP Newsroom)

California approved one of the world's first regulations last year requiring all of new car sales to be zero emissions vehicles by 2035, including plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. The Biden administration hopes to have half of all new vehicle sales be electric by 2030.

The state – poised to become the world's fourth-largest economy – is investing $9 billion toward the transition, through the California Climate Commitment.

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Some in the truck industry are concerned that the rule will increase prices for good that are trucked and the American Trucking Associations called the rule "unrealistic."

"As it becomes clear that California’s rhetoric is not being matched by technology, we hope the board will reverse course and allow trucking companies the freedom to choose the clean technologies that work best for their operations," the group said in a statement.

It noted that emissions from trucks have already gone down drastically in recent decades.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Sources: Red Sox deal Devers to Giants in stunner

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Sources: Red Sox deal Devers to Giants in stunner

The San Francisco Giants are acquiring All-Star slugger Rafael Devers from the Boston Red Sox, sources confirmed to ESPN’s Jeff Passan on Sunday evening.

The Giants are sending starter Jordan Hicks and 23-year-old lefty Kyle Harrison, among others, to Boston in exchange, sources said.

Devers, 28, is in just the second season of a 10-year, $313.5 million contract he signed to stay in Boston in January 2023, however his relationship with the team suffered a significant blow after the star third baseman was reportedly blindsided by a move to designated hitter in the spring.

Tensions flared again last month after Devers refused an offer from the team to move him to first base after starting first baseman Triston Casas was ruled out for the season with a knee injury.

It reached a point where Red Sox owner John Henry met with the disgruntled star, making a rare trip to meet the team on the road and smooth things over after Devers’ pointed comments about the request to switch positions again.

Hicks and Harrison give a pitching-starved Red Sox team more depth on their staff while Devers provides a huge boost to a middling Giants offense.

Devers has more than 200 career home runs to his name and has a .894 OPS for Boston this season.

The deal was first reported by Fansided.

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Ohtani’s pitching return might be coming soon

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Ohtani's pitching return might be coming soon

Shohei Ohtani‘s pitching debut for the Los Angeles Dodgers might be quickly approaching.

Manager Dave Roberts told reporters Sunday that Ohtani would throw another simulated game in the coming days that could “potentially” be his last one, and a source told ESPN’s Buster Olney that Ohtani should join the Dodgers’ rotation “sooner rather than later,” potentially within the week.

Ohtani took a big step forward during his most recent simulated game at Petco Park on Tuesday, throwing 44 pitches over the course of three innings against a couple of lower-level minor league players. Ohtani’s fastball reached the mid- to upper-90s, and he exhibited good command of his off-speed pitches in what amounted to his third time facing hitters. Afterward, Roberts said there was a “north of zero” chance Ohtani could join the rotation before the All-Star break.

Because of his two-way designation, the Dodgers can carry Ohtani as an extra pitcher, which means he can throw two to three innings and have someone pitch after him as a piggyback starter. At this point, it seems that is the Dodgers’ plan.

The Dodgers’ pitching staff has again been plagued by injury, with 14 pitchers on the injured list, including four starting pitchers the team was heavily counting on for 2025 — Blake Snell, Tony Gonsolin, Roki Sasaki and Tyler Glasnow.

If Ohtani returns in July — the likely outcome at this point — he will be 22 months removed from a second repair of his ulnar collateral ligament.

The update isn’t as optimistic for Sasaki. He paused his throwing program and is set for a lengthy layoff. Sasaki has not pitched in a game since May 9 and is not part of the team’s long-term pitching plans this season.

“I think that’s what the mindset should be,” Roberts said. “Being thrust into this environment certainly was a big undertaking for him, and now you layer in the health part and the fact he’s a starting pitcher, knowing what the build-up [required to return] entails … I think that’s the prudent way to go about it.”

Sasaki, 23, went 1-1 with a 4.72 ERA in eight starts after joining the Dodgers from the Pacific League’s Chuba Lotte Marines, averaging less than 4⅓ innings per start. He walked 22 and struck out 24 in 34⅓ innings, and his fastball averaged 95.7 mph, down 3-4 mph from his average in Japan.

Roberts said Sasaki was pain free when he resumed throwing in early June, but the pitcher was shut down after feeling discomfort this past week. Sasaki recently received a cortisone injection in the shoulder; Roberts said no further scans are planned.

“I don’t think it’s pain,” Roberts said. “I don’t know if it’s discomfort, if it’s tightness, if he’s just not feeling strong, whatever the adjective you want to use. That’s more of a question for Roki, as far as the sensation he’s feeling.

“He’s just not feeling like he can ramp it up, and we’re not going to push him to do something he doesn’t feel good about right now.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Judge 1-for-12 as NY swept: Got to swing at strikes

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Judge 1-for-12 as NY swept: Got to swing at strikes

BOSTON — Aaron Judge blamed himself for swinging at pitches outside the strike zone as the New York Yankees were swept in a three-game series against the Boston Red Sox.

“You got to swing at strikes,” Judge said after going 1-for-12 in the series, which Boston completed with a 2-0 victory on Sunday.

Judge struck out three or more times in three straight games for only the third time in his major league career.

“That usually helps any hitter when you swing at strikes,” Judge added. “Definitely some pitches off the edge or off the edge in, you know, taking some hacks just trying to make something happen.”

Judge had a tying solo homer in the opener Friday night but struck out nine times as the Yankees were swept in a series for the first time this season.

New York scored only four runs in the three games, matching its fewest in a three-game series at Fenway Park, on June 20-22, 1916 and on Sept. 28-30, 1922.

“It’s very hard,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said of facing Judge. “He’s so good at what he does. We used our fastballs in the right spots, we got some swing and misses.”

“Throughout the years we’ve been aggressive with him,” Cora added. “Sometimes he gets us, sometimes we do a good job with that. It’s always fun to compete against the best, and, to me, he’s the best in the business right now.”

Judge’s major league-leading average dipped to .378.

“I don’t think much of it,” teammate Ben Rice said. “If I could have that guy hitting every single at-bat even if he’s not at his best, I would do it. I’m sure he’ll bounce back. He’ll be all right.”

Judge faced Garrett Whitlock with two on in the eighth Sunday and bounced into an inning-ending double play.

“He’s one of the greatest hitters in the world,” Whitlock said. “It’s special to watch him play and everything. We tried to execute and had some execution this weekend.”

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