Exclusive: Former President Trump’s campaign is once again criticizing President Biden’s climate change policies, taking aim at his administration’s electric vehicle (EV) policies.
In a blistering statement to Fox News Digital on Thursday, the Trump campaign condemned Biden’s actions related to California’s proposed EV mandate that would phase out all gasoline-powered vehicle sales over the next few years. The statement comes amid a war of words over EV policy between President Trump and the Biden administration and California Governor Gavin Newsom.
President Trump: “Crooked Joe Biden, who just imposed a crazy, job-killing electric vehicle mandate at the federal level, is threatening to disrupt the U.S. auto industry by approving California’s waiver request to ban the sale of all gas-powered vehicles.” “We are preparing to slaughter the remnants of the United States,” the campaign’s national spokesperson, Caroline Levitt, told Fox News Digital in a statement.
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Former President Trump has repeatedly criticized President Biden’s efforts to force more purchases of electric vehicles. (Getty Images)
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is helping the California Air Resources Board (CARB) greenlight a plan that will begin setting statewide EV sales requirements in 2026 and eventually lead to a complete ban on gasoline-powered vehicles. We expect to finalize the requested exemption soon. 2035. The federal exemption faced opposition from automakers, auto dealers, Republican and Democratic lawmakers, and the energy industry.
Levitt said Thursday that if elected, Trump would rescind both the federal EV regulation and the waiver issued to California by the Biden administration.
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“Despite these devastating consequences, Crooked Joe is preparing to formally endorse this extremist far-left ban on gasoline-powered vehicles in much of the United States,” Levitt said. . “The Trump Administration will support vehicle affordability and maximum choice for American consumers.”
President Trump has vowed to rescind a federal exemption granted to California to promote electric vehicle mandates. (Ellen Schmidt/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
In March 2022, the EPA restored California’s authority under the Clean Air Act to broadly enforce its own emissions standards; EV sales obligation, and allowed other states to adopt California’s rules. The action comes after the Trump administration stripped states of their ability to pursue standards that run counter to federal rules.
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A few months later, on August 25, 2022, CARB announced its Advanced Clean Car II plan, and shortly after, Newsom said California would “continue to lead the revolution toward a future of zero-emission transportation.” . The state then submitted a waiver requesting approval of the plan to the EPA in May 2023, and more than a dozen other states have committed to adopting the plan.
The Advanced Clean Cars II plan requires 35% of new car sales to be zero-emissions in 2026, with the requirement increasing rapidly until 2035, when 100% of sales are zero-emissions. is required.
A driver charges an electric car at a charging station in Monterey Park, California, on August 31, 2022. (Frederick J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images)
The Automotive Innovation Alliance, an industry group representing major automakers, wrote to the EPA last month: “The U.S. auto industry is clearly in the driver’s seat for electric vehicles, as demonstrated by the significant investments automakers have made in technology and continued product launches. ”, the letter said.
“California has long led the way in the development of its EV market, but other states have yet to catch up. So policymakers need to know whether the ZEV regulations that are right for California are also right for other states. It is important to evaluate
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According to data compiled by the group, 24% of car sales last year were battery electric vehicles, and the remaining 4% were hybrids. However, in the second half of 2023, EV sales in the state fell by the most in more than a decade, the Los Angeles Times reported.
California Governor Gavin Newsom said in February, in response to a question about how a potential second Trump term would affect the state’s climate policy, that “we will continue to make sure that California survives in every way, shape and form.” There is no doubt that they are trying to do so.” (AP Photo/Jose Luis Villegas, File)
Meanwhile, Newsom recently slammed Trump’s comments on EVs, saying California is ready to defend climate change.
“Am I worried about this becoming politicized? Of course I am. I’m not naive about that, and especially “There’s a deep naivety that comes from President Trump’s rhetoric on this issue.” .
“I see markets changing around the world. I’m not going to abandon that future and I don’t want to relive the 19th century,” he continued. “The Trump administration has promoted policies that roll back the past half-century of progress related to environmental standards. Their biggest goal, and this is not limited to recent rhetoric, is the regulation of tailpipe emissions. This was our approach.”
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The governor added that his administration is trying to “future-proof” climate policy ahead of the November presidential election.
Mr. Newsom’s office and the White House did not respond to requests for comment regarding the purpose of this article.
