Biden EPA’s New Vehicle Emissions Standards Spark Backlash From Auto Industry, Republicans

Authored by Nathan Worcester via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) proposed emissions standards for automobiles and trucks are raising eyebrows in the auto industry and Washington alike.

“EPA’s proposed emissions plan is aggressive by any measure. By that I mean it sets automotive electrification goals in the next few years that are … very high,” John Bozzella, president and CEO of the automaker trade organization Alliance for Automotive Innovation, wrote in an April 12 blog post.

The federal standards would tightly restrict emissions from new vehicles. That would effectively force automakers to boost their sales of electric vehicles (EVs).

The agency’s proposal anticipates that under the new standards, two-thirds of new light-duty vehicles sold in the United States would be electric by the model year 2032.

It also predicts that 46 percent of new medium-duty vehicles sold in the United States would be electric by that model year.

EVs made up less than 6 percent of total new vehicle sales in 2022. That’s an increased percentage relative to past years, even as total new vehicle sales were down to 13.8 million units from 17.3 million in 2018.

The EPA claims that its standards would lower carbon dioxide emissions by 10 billion tons.

Agency administrator Michael Regan described the standards as the “strongest ever” during an April 12 press conference.

“The proposal exceeds the administration’s own 50 percent electrification target,” Bozzella wrote, noting that his industry is “fully committed to an electric and low-carbon transportation future.”

Not Enough Chargers

Less than two weeks ago, the IRS and the Treasury Department issued complex guidance on EV tax credits that could make it harder for consumers to benefit from those financial incentives.

Bozzella, who began his career working for then-New York Mayor David Dinkins, a Democrat, said the guidance would reduce the number of vehicles qualifying for tax credits. That would seem to disincentivize EV adoption even as the administration steps up other measures intended to facilitate more EV purchases.

Bozzella also said the 100,000 public, nonproprietary EV chargers in the United States are “not enough.”

An April 6 memo from the automotive alliance stated that electrification would take a “massive, 100-year change to the U.S. industrial base and the way Americans drive.”

Groups outside of the auto industry also voiced concerns.

Will Hild, executive director of Consumers’ Research, a consumer protection organization, said the standards are “the same thing BlackRock and ESG extremists like Larry Fink are doing with U.S. pensions and retirement dollars.”

“The American people won’t stand for it,” he said.

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