The Biden administration has finalized a slate of highly-anticipated environmental regulations curbing gas-powered vehicle tailpipe emissions as part of its broader efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and combat global warming.
In a joint announcement Wednesday, the White House and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) unveiled the most aggressive multi-pollutant emission standards ever finalized. [emphasis, links added]
While the regulations target gas-powered vehicles, they are explicitly designed to push wider nationwide adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) and, according to officials, are expected to ensure nearly 70% of all new car sales are zero-emissions within a few years. …snip…
Under the new regulations, which will be formally announced at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., later on Wednesday afternoon, automakers will be forced to rapidly curb the emissions of greenhouse gases, hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides, and particulate matter from new passenger cars, light trucks, and larger pickups and vans beginning with model year 2027 vehicles.
According to administration officials, the regulations will help “tackle the climate crisis” by reducing the transportation sector’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by a staggering 7.2 billion metric tons throughout the program, which will be in effect through 2032.
Officials also told reporters on a press call that the regulations would reduce the amount of oil consumed in the U.S. by billions of barrels within three decades.
When the tailpipe emissions rules kick in, automakers will be compelled to increase production and sales of EVs, plug-in hybrids, traditional hybrids, and fuel cell vehicles.
Under one “low cost” model EPA outlined in the rule, officials said automakers would be forced to ensure 56% of light-duty car sales are battery electric and another 13% are hybrid by 2032.
The regulations represent a version of the so-called “alternative C” approach detailed in EPA’s original proposal first publicized in April 2023.
The White House originally projected last year that, under the rule, up to 67% of new vehicle sales would be battery-electric by 2032, but after a lengthy public comment period and meetings with automakers and labor groups, it scaled down the regulations. …snip…
While the EPA rule represents a scaled-down version of what the agency proposed last year, especially in the early years of the regulations, industry groups and Republican lawmakers said the result would remain unchanged. They argue the regulations reduce consumer choice and will lead to higher costs across the board.
In a joint statement on Wednesday, American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers President and CEO Chet Thompson and American Petroleum Institute President and CEO Mike Sommers called on Congress to intervene and block the plan.
“At a time when millions of Americans are struggling with high costs and inflation, the Biden administration has finalized a regulation that will unequivocally eliminate most new gas cars and traditional hybrids from the U.S. market in less than a decade,” they said. “As much as the President and EPA claim to have ‘eased’ their approach, nothing could be further from the truth.”
“This regulation will make new gas-powered vehicles unavailable or prohibitively expensive for most Americans,” the two industry leaders continued. “For them, this wildly unpopular policy is going to feel and function like a ban.”
In addition to energy groups, a wide slate of industry groups representing farmers, consumers, and auto dealers have similarly warned of the consequences of the EPA’s regulations.
“This decision will not only severely hamper the administration’s ability to reach its own climate goals, but it will also hurt family farms and rural communities that rely heavily on the sale of biofuels. On top of that, it will remove consumer choice from the market,” said National Corn Growers Association President Harold Wolle.
According to the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, an industry group that represents major automakers, 9.3% of total car purchases in the U.S. last year were electric or plug-in hybrids – up from 7% in 2022. That uptick was driven largely by purchases in California and urban areas where the majority of EV purchases are made.
At the same time, EVs remain far more expensive than traditional, gas-powered cars. Even factoring in generous federal and state subsidies, the average cost of an EV is about $52,500, while the average subcompact car costs $24,000. …snip…
Additionally, a wide range of Republican lawmakers immediately blasted the regulations and vowed to take action to overturn them before they are implemented.
Top image of man pushing EV with dead battery via Fox32 screencap
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They know that we are going into a new glacial period, and the intend to kill billions.
Government demands never stand the test of efficacy when they bump up against reality.
Biden the Blunder should be made to start walking where ever he goes his own Hot Air would provide a little C02
So – Correct me if I AM wrong (And I Know I AM NOT).
The US Legislature (Congress of the People) HAS THE JURISDICTION
of Passing Laws of the Land. NOT the Executive Branch!
NOT this or any other President. So how is this so-called collection of
environmental regulations have ANY CHANCE of “holding water”??
The Biden administration is hoping that, as in the past, the Judiciary will go along with this power grab. That is why it is so important that the Chevron doctrine gets overturned in this High Court’s term. Way past time to rein in the Administrative State and drain the Swamp.