The Republican-controlled House of Representatives on Friday approved a resolution to overturn the Biden administration's new rules on auto emissions that Republicans say will force Americans to buy electric vehicles they don't want and can't afford.
The rules announced by the Environmental Protection Agency in March would impose the most ambitious standards in U.S. history to reduce planet-warming emissions from passenger vehicles.
This measure comes as EV sales must meet certain standards. It started to slow down.
Former President Donald Trump and other Republican lawmakers have decried the rule as an EV “mandate,” but the rule doesn't mandate all EV sales. Under the rule, the industry could meet it if 56% of new vehicle sales were EVs by 2032, according to the EPA. The standard also requires that at least 13% of new vehicle sales be plug-in hybrids or other partially electric vehicles by 2032, as well as the use of gasoline-powered vehicles that are more fuel-efficient than cars on the road today.
The projected EV sales rate will be a significant increase compared to current sales, which are currently at 7.6% of new vehicle sales last year, up from 5.8% in 2022.
“The EPA's latest emissions rules aren't designed to reduce air pollution; they're designed to force Americans to drive electric vehicles,” said Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
She called the rule “unreasonable” and said it was “just another example of how the Biden-Harris Administration's fast-track green agenda is handing the keys to America's energy future to China, putting our auto industry at risk, and forcing people to buy expensive EVs they don't want.”
Rep. Frank Pallone of New Jersey, the top Democrat on the Energy Committee, called the House bill “another Republican attempt to attack the Clean Air Act and roll back commonsense pollution control.”
Pallone said the Republican action “puts corporate polluters' profits above the health and safety of the American people,” adding that the resolution was “ripped straight out of President Trump's extreme Project 2025 playbook.”
Instead of focusing on funding a government that is scheduled to shut down at the end of the month, “Republicans are wasting time by bringing up this resolution that they know has zero chance of becoming law,” Pallone said, noting that even if the bill passes the Democratic-controlled Senate, it is certain to face a veto from President Joe Biden.
“This is yet another example of Republicans not being serious about governing or about implementing policies that actually benefit the American people,” Pallone said.
The House passed the bill by a vote of 215 to 191. Eight Democrats voted in favor, and one Republican, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, voted against.
Republican Rep. John James of Michigan, who introduced the resolution, said “unrealistic regulations” would “destroy Michigan's auto industry and devastate our middle class and most vulnerable citizens.”
“Residents in my district cannot afford to spend an extra $12,000 on an expensive and unreliable EV,” James said. “Allowing the Biden-Harris Administration to continue to stifle consumer choice will only do the American people a disservice.”
The EPA's rules, which apply to the model years 2027 to 2032, would reduce global-warming carbon emissions by more than 7 billion tonnes over the next 30 years and result in nearly $100 billion in annual net benefits, including reduced health care costs, fewer deaths and more than $60 billion in annual savings on fuel, maintenance and repairs, the EPA said.
Cars and trucks are the largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in the United States.
EPA Administrator Michael Regan noted that the new standards are designed to be technology-neutral and performance-based, and that the rule has “multiple ways for companies to comply.” He said the EPA could meet its carbon pollution goals even if sales of battery electric vehicles fell by 30% in 2032, as long as the tougher standards for gasoline-powered cars are met.
Biden is prioritizing the fight against climate change. His presidential qualitiesPresident Trump called his pledge to make half of new cars and trucks sold in the US zero-emissions by 2030 “historic progress.”
“We'll achieve our goals by 2030, and we'll make progress in the coming years,” Biden said when the rule was issued in March.
