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American Trucking Associations asked Congress to implement a comprehensive plan to address the soaring price of diesel fuel and ensures an affordable fuel supply for the nation’s 3.5 million truck drivers.

The Bush administration rejected regulating greenhouse gases, saying it would cripple the U.S. economy, and effectively moved the issue to a future administration, the Associated Press reported Friday.

The average retail price of diesel jumped 8.2 cents to $4.727 a gallon last week, more than wiping out the entire 7.8-cent drop in the price of trucking’s main fuel over the previous five weeks, the Department of Energy reported July 7.

Thousands of used trailers are sitting unsold and gathering dust, as freight demand remains tepid and carriers that would typically up-grade their fleets are postponing purchases, spending their money on fuel instead, according to industry experts.

Cargo ships would have to reduce their emissions under federal legislation approved by Congress, which President Bush is expected to sign into law, the Ventura County (Calif.) Star newspaper reported Wednesday.

Leaders of the Group of Eight nations endorsed cutting global emissions of greenhouse gases in half by 2050, but stopped short of more short-term targets, the Associated Press reported Tuesday.

California clean-air regulators propose to force all older highway trucks running within state boundaries to be retrofitted first with diesel particulate filters, costing $8,000 to $20,000 and more, and then with equipment that reduces output of nitrogen oxides, in a complicated, staggered schedule in effect from 2010 through 2022.