The Republican-controlled House voted, 221-197, to block a proposed EPA rule on tail-pipe emissions that could make electric vehicles the best-selling new cars and pickup trucks by 2032. The vote on Wednesday stood in contrast to the ongoing UN climate summit, where steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are under discussion.
The bill, HR 4468, now goes to the Senate. The White House has threatened a veto, saying the bill would discourage development and sale of lower-cost “clean” vehicles. Republicans said the Biden administration would force Americans to buy cars they don’t want at prices they cannot afford.
Ethanol and farm groups were part of an informal alliance with petroleum and retail groups that opposed the EPA proposal, which was released in April. Most of the gasoline sold in the country is 10 percent corn ethanol. The proposed rule would lower the permissible level of greenhouse gas emissions from new cars and trucks sold between 2027 and 2032 to encourage a transition to clean vehicles and reduce global warming. There also would be public-health benefits from lower levels of air pollution.
“It’s all a big CO2 scam. This is a good, righteous bill,” said Rep. Doug LaMalfa, California Republican, during House debate. Michigan Republican Tim Walberg called the proposed rule a “de facto EV mandate [that’s] also unaffordable.” And Republican Pete Stauber said EVs “are not compatible with our way of life” in northern Minnesota, where harsh winters would sap battery power.
“Yet another Republican messaging bill to hurt and mislead [Americans],” said Rep. Debbie Dingell, Michigan Democrat. New Jersey Democrat Frank Pallone said Republicans chose “polluters over people” with the bill. “People do not have choice in the air they breathe,” said Democrat Haley Stevens of Michigan in a rebuttal to GOP arguments that their bill would give car buyers a choice in the vehicles they buy.
Transportation is the largest sector for U.S. emissions at 28 percent, according to the EPA. “Depending on the compliance pathways manufacturers select to meet the standards, EPA projects that EVs could account for 67 percent of new light-duty vehicle sales and 46 percent of medium-duty vehicle sales in [marketing year] 2032,” said the agency when it released the proposal.