EPA mulls EV transition delay amid pushback from lawmakers, automakers

A bipartisan rally in Ohio on Thursday, Feb. 22, highlighted growing opposition to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed emissions standards. These regulations aim to mandate that two-thirds of new vehicles sold in the U.S. be electric by 2032. However, the rules have drawn criticism from lawmakers and autoworkers who argue that the timeline is overly ambitious.

“It’ll be devastating for working class people because it’s going to cost them their jobs, it’s going to mandate that they buy electric vehicles, which are much more expensive and a lot less reliable for the things that they need to do to live and work every day,” Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted said. “You see that this is a bipartisan group of people who are saying no to the Biden administration’s EPA mandates that would mandate 67% of cars be electric by 2032, which means that industry has to start immediately changing.”

In addition to the demonstration in Ohio, over 130 members of Congress have penned a letter to President Joe Biden and EPA Director Michael Reagan, expressing concerns from both sides of the aisle about the feasibility of the emissions plan.

“We write to highlight the failures of this Administration’s hasty and costly transition to electric vehicles,” the group of lawmakers wrote. “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.”

The congressional members contend that the proposed regulations are “unrealistic” and “absurd.” The letter argues this rule could have adverse effects on American families and businesses, while potentially increasing reliance on foreign markets, particularly China. The lawmakers also pointed to federal energy reports which predict that only one out of five new vehicles will be EVs by 2050.

Amid this pushback, reports indicate that the EPA is considering delaying the implementation of the emissions plan until after 2030 to allow automakers more time to comply. Under this revised timeline, regulations would ramp up sharply to achieve the goal of EVs comprising 67% of U.S. new car sales by 2032 and create roughly the same greenhouse gas reductions as the original proposal by 2055.

The initial plan, which would have begun impacting vehicles manufactured in 2027, prompted major automakers like Ford, Stellantis, and General Motors, along with the United Auto Workers union, to request a deadline extension.

However, environmental advocates argue that delaying the implementation of this intuitive comes with risks of its own.

Dan Becker, the director of the Safe Climate Transport Campaign at the Center for Biological Diversity, told The Washington Post that waiting until 2030 will result in “more pollution, more sick kids, more global warming, [and] more oil use.”

Organizations like the Sierra Club have urged the EPA to move forward with its original plan, emphasizing the detrimental effects of air pollution on public health.

These groups say that over 137 million Americans, more than one-third of the nation’s population, are currently exposed to harmful levels of air pollution, which stricter emissions standards could help alleviate in the short term.

“We need strong clean car standards to deliver vital relief that the most highly impacted communities demand and deserve,” the Sierra Club wrote. “The United States is the world’s second largest country emitter, and transportation is the largest portion (29%) of total US greenhouse gas emissions.”

A decision on what these regulations will ultimately look like has not been made yet. The EPA’s final ruling on emissions regulations is expected by March at the earliest.