Feenstra, Crapo Lead Bipartisan, Bicameral Letter Urging Biden Administration to End Costly and Hasty Transition to Electric Vehicles
U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra (R-IA) and U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID) led a bipartisan, bicameral letter to President Joe Biden and Director of the Office of Management and Budget Shalanda Young urging the Biden administration to withdraw the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed rule entitled “Multi-Pollutant Emissions Standards for Model Years 2027 and Later Light-Duty and Medium-Duty Vehicles,” which would require 67% of new light-duty vehicles and 46% of medium-duty vehicles to be electric by 2032. This rule amounts to a de facto mandate for EVs and phase out of the internal combustion engine vehicle.
Nearly 140 of their House and Senate colleagues signed this letter.
“President Biden has made his intentions clear. He would rather force American families – who are already facing financial hardship under the weight of inflation spurred by trillions in wasteful government spending – to buy electric vehicles to advance his Green New Deal agenda than allow folks to choose the best car or truck for their families, businesses, and farms at an affordable price. This misguided decision also strengthens China while weakening our economy because the critical materials needed to manufacture electric vehicles are primarily sourced from China,” said Rep. Feenstra. “Alongside Senator Mike Crapo, I’m proud to lead nearly 140 of my colleagues in urging President Biden to withdraw the proposed rule that would attempt to replace liquid fuels and combustion engines with unreliable and unaffordable electric vehicles. We witnessed people stranded in the cold waiting for their electric vehicle to charge or venturing through winter storms to find a charging station, further highlighting that mandating electric vehicles nationwide is ridiculous. The Biden administration’s radical policies have consequences, and the American people repeatedly pay the price for its costly mandates and red tape. I encourage President Biden to rescind this proposed rule immediately and work with Republicans to lower costs for our families, farmers, and small businesses.”
“Consequences of rules and regulations driven by the Biden Administration’s radical green agenda drastically reduce consumer choice and the affordability of vehicles available to Americans,” said Sen. Crapo. “Americans deserve access to affordable, reliable vehicles fueled by American-made energy products, not those primarily supplied by China.”
In their letter, the lawmakers wrote that “This proposed rule, which would require 67% of new light-duty vehicles and 46% of medium-duty vehicles to be electric by 2032, amounts to a de facto mandate for EVs and phase out of the internal combustion engine vehicle. The U.S. House of Representatives, in a bipartisan manner, voted to overturn this burdensome rule in December (H.R. 4468), and similar efforts are currently being pursued in the Senate.”
“Additionally, this rule is contradictory to all conventional predictions about where the automobile industry is headed in the coming years, including this Administration’s own Department of Energy. As reported in the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s Annual Energy Outlook in 2021, 4 of 5 new vehicles will still run on liquid fuels in 2050, making this rule not just absurd to the average citizen, but to your own agencies as well. In fact, recent reporting from sources inside your Administration indicates that EPA now intends to ease the rule’s requirements through 2030 to give automakers more time to comply. This again shows that even your own agencies know this mandate is absurd and unrealistic, and threatens to harm both industry and consumers,” the lawmakers added.
The lawmakers also noted that “The reality is that most Americans still prefer the internal combustion engine vehicle, and EPA’s proposed rule unnecessarily restricts consumer choice and forces expensive EVs onto Americans at a time when they can least afford it. Major U.S. automakers have recently lowered their targets and pulled back planned investments in EVs due to low consumer demand and struggling EV units. Further, automobile dealers across the country have said EVs continue to sit unpurchased on dealership lots, despite automakers accepting massive losses and unsustainable government incentives.”
The full letter can be found HERE.
