Weekly Column: Preserving Idahoans' Vehicle Choice

Idahoans deserve to have access to affordable, reliable vehicles fueled by American-made energy products.  However, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) tailpipe emissions rule finalized under the Biden-Harris Administration will restrict consumer choice and raise costs for the average American family.  I recently reintroduced legislation to preserve Idahoans’ access to affordable, reliable vehicles of their choice. 

Under the Biden-Harris Administration, the EPA finalized a rule titled “Multi-Pollutant Emissions Standards for Model Year 2027 and Later Light-Duty and Medium-Duty Vehicles,” which sets stringent emissions standards for criteria pollutants and greenhouse gasses for these vehicles and is a de facto electric vehicle (EV) mandate.  Under the rule, internal combustion engine vehicles--which still represent the overwhelming majority of new car sales--can make up no more than 30 percent of new sales by 2032. 

The average price of an EV is still significantly higher than the average price of a gas-powered vehicle, even with massive government subsidies for EVs paid for by American taxpayers.  EV mandates threaten to hurt everyday Americans and cost auto workers their jobs while simultaneously helping China, given that China continues to dominate the EV supply chain.  In recent years, demand for EVs made up less than ten percent of new car sales.

S. 995, the Choice in Automobile Retail Sales (CARS) Act, would repeal the Biden-Harris Administration’s tailpipe emissions rule.  This rule is the most aggressive tailpipe emissions proposal ever crafted and a de facto mandate for mass production of EVs and phase-out of gas-powered cars and trucks.  The CARS Act, in line with President Trump’s “Unleashing American Energy” Executive Order to end the Biden EV Mandates, would further prevent future tailpipe regulations that limit the availability of new motor vehicles based on engine type.

The CARS Act would:

• Rescind the EPA tailpipe emissions rule;

• Prohibit the use of authority under the Clean Air Act to issue regulations that mandate the use of any specific technology or that limit the availability of new motor vehicles based on that vehicle’s engine type.  This includes any regulation prescribed on or after January 1, 2021;

• Require the EPA to update any regulations since January 1, 2021, that result in the limited availability of new vehicles based on that vehicle’s engine within two years; and

• End the EPA’s radical agenda, which is driving up costs for people and handing the keys of America’s auto industry to China.

I also introduced this legislation in the 118^th Congress and led similar efforts to end de facto EV mandates.  Last April, the Senate voted on, but unfortunately did not pass, my legislation, S.4072, to defund the EPA tailpipe rule.

Additionally, I led a broader strategy to protect consumer choice in the automobile market and recently co-sponsored additional, related pieces of legislation, including:

• Preserving Choice in Vehicle Purchases Act to end the Biden Administration regulation banning sales of all conventional gasoline-powered cars by 2035;

• Freedom to Haul Act to safeguard the trucking industry from impractical and costly mandates by preventing a Biden Administration de facto EV mandate on the trucking industry; and

• Stop California from Advancing Regulatory Burden (CARB) Act to eliminate policy enabling California and other states with excessive emissions standards to dictate national emissions standards.

I continue to support a free market approach to the production of EVs for those who choose to drive them, but an EV mandate is the wrong way to go.  Rather, the free market and innovation like we are seeing in Idaho must drive EV efforts.  I will continue pushing for a sensible approach that enables Idahoans to choose the cars and trucks that most meet their needs.

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