Chris Lange, FISM News
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) introduced a proposal Wednesday to significantly tighten vehicle emissions restrictions. The proposal is aimed at facilitating the administration’s ambitious climate agenda that includes a massive push for U.S. auto manufacturers to churn out EVs to replace gas-powered cars and trucks and force Americans to buy them.
The proposal would require as much as 67% of all new vehicles sold in the U.S. to be electric by 2032, affecting car model years 2027 through 2032. The Biden administration’s initial “EV Acceleration Challenge” set a goal of 50% of all new vehicle sales to be electric by 2030.
“By proposing the most ambitious pollution standards ever for cars and trucks, we are delivering on the Biden-Harris Administration’s promise to protect people and the planet, securing critical reductions in dangerous air and climate pollution and ensuring significant economic benefits like lower fuel and maintenance costs for families,” EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan said in a statement announcing the proposal.
“These ambitious standards are readily achievable thanks to President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, which is already driving historic progress to build more American-made electric cars and secure America’s global competitiveness,” Regan added.
The White House said the new regulations will “protect public health,” save consumers money, and boost America’s global competitiveness.
“Cars and truck manufacturers have made clear that the future of transportation is electric. The market is moving,” the White House asserted in a fact sheet.
“As a car enthusiast and self-proclaimed car guy, President Biden is seizing the moment. His Investing in America agenda is expanding domestic manufacturing and accelerating adoption of zero-emission vehicles, including battery electric, plug-in hybrid electric, and fuel cell electric vehicles,” it continued.
REPUBLICAN SAYS EPA SHOULD BE DEFUNDED
Critics are saying that the real aim of the EPA proposal is to increase tailpipe emissions restrictions to such a degree that Americans will no longer be able to afford gas-powered vehicles.
“The Biden administration is trying to bend every federal rule they can find to force people into buying EVs,” Myron Ebell, director of the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Center for Energy and Environment, said in reaction to the proposal. “There is still a market that allows drivers to buy the vehicles of their choice, but government coercion is rapidly limiting those choices,” he added.
“Yet another draconian rule from the Biden Admin,” Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) wrote in a tweet. “From gas stoves to vehicles, their anti-American energy policies put our nation on a dangerous path. It’s time for the government to stop over-regulating our lives and protect our energy independence.”
Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) went a step further with a call to defund the EPA.
“Biden’s radical EPA is trying to regulate your car’s engine into OBLIVION,” Roy tweeted. “Enough energy fantasies. @HouseGOP MUST use the power of the purse to END the weaponization of the federal bureaucracy. Slashing EPA’s funding should be at the top of the list.”
This article was partially informed by Fox News and Ground News reports.