Industry trade groups, politicians, others criticize Biden’s “deeply flawed” gas-powered car ban

(WO) – Last week, the Biden administration finalized a new regulation that will effectively eliminate most new gas-powered cars and traditional hybrids from the U.S. market in just eight short years. Consumers have made clear over the past year that they value the freedom to choose a vehicle that’s best for them – not intrusive government mandates that risk higher costs and a greater reliance on foreign supply chains.

Here’s what they are saying about this deeply flawed rule:

American Petroleum Institute and American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers: "This regulation will make new gas-powered vehicles unavailable or prohibitively expensive for most Americans. For them, this wildly unpopular policy is going to feel and function like a ban. Whether you’re a Republican or Democrat, Congress has to make a decision whether to protect consumer choice, U.S. manufacturing workers and our hard-won energy security by overturning this deeply flawed regulation." — API President & CEO Mike Sommers and AFPM President & CEO Chet Thompson (API, 3/20/24)

Coalition of 5,000+ Auto Dealerships: "[S]adly the regulation stubbornly hangs on to an EV mandate that is clearly disconnected from the realities of the marketplace and the voice of the customer." (EV Voice of the Consumer, 3/20/24)

Toyota: "The EPA's regulatory mandate requires a precipitous shift from around 8 percent market share of battery electric vehicles today to more than half by 2032, an aggressive, sixfold increase over just eight years. ... Ultimately, the American consumer drives the auto business." (Car and Driver, 3/20/24)

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV): "The federal government has no authority and no right to mandate what type of car or truck Americans can purchase for their everyday lives. This reckless and ill-informed rule will impose what is effectively an EV mandate without ensuring the security of our supply chains from nations like China and without a realistic transition plan that addresses our domestic infrastructure needs." (Sen. Joe Machin, 3/20/24)

Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID): "The EPA’s rule on tailpipe emissions sets unrealistic & unachievable standards that go too far at restricting vehicle choices for American families and pushes our country toward a greater dependence on China." (Twitter, 3/22/24)

Sen. John Tester (D-MT): "If you want to move the industry, you move it with competition, you don’t move it with regulation." (E&E News, 3/21/24)

Rep. John James (R-MI): "I know the automotive industry intimately, having run a automotive supply chain company for years. Today's news from the Biden Administration's EPA will do more harm to the automotive industry, Michigan's middle-class, and the entire nation's economy than many realize. This EPA rule is a de-facto mandate against gas-powered cars, and will boost China's middle-class on the backs of our own middle-class in Michigan." (Rep. John James, 3/20/24)

Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA): "The final rule “seems aggressive, and I know a lot of American consumers are uncertain about EVs. … I understand why we want to migrate more towards that, but at the end of the day, perhaps it might be overly aggressive." (E&E News, 3/21/24)

National Automobile Dealers Association: "EPA’s proposed rule goes too far, too fast by not acknowledging current real-world consumer demand for EVs. Members of Congress are encouraged to support efforts to counter EPA’s overly aggressive EV mandates and attempts to effectively ban the sale of gas-powered cars." (NADA, 3/12/24)

Specialty Equipment Market Association: "SEMA has long advocated that government mandates, including those designed to support the sale of EVs and eliminate the sale of internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, are the wrong approach to reducing motor vehicle emissions. The federal government and states should take an ‘all of the above’ approach to vehicle technology, incentivize innovation, and allow the market to determine the best ways to reach improved emissions goals." — SEMA President and CEO, Mike Spagnola (SEMA, 3/20/24)

National Corn Growers Association: "We are deeply concerned and disappointed that EPA has chosen to force a one-size-fits-all solution to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and ignore the readily available solution that biofuels like ethanol bring to the table." — NCGA President Harold Wolle (NCGA, 3/20/24)

National Association of Convenience Stores, National Association of Truck Stop Owners & Society of Independent Gasoline Marketers of America: "The fastest, most efficient way to lower carbon emissions remains through technology-neutral, market-oriented, consumer-focused policies that encourage all fueling technologies to improve their respective emissions. This rule does not do that. Instead, it functions as an effective mandate for a single technology that at this point has not proven itself to be more viable than other compelling solutions." (NACS, 3/20/24)

Consumer Energy Alliance: "It is disappointing that the Biden Administration continues to be actively working against its stated goal of, ‘equipping the American middle class to succeed.’ While electric vehicles clearly have a role in our vehicle mix, the middle class cannot succeed with the EPA forcing an unworkable, expensive EV quota on working class families." — CEA President & CEO David Holt (Consumer Energy Alliance, 3/20/24)

Renewable Fuels Association: "It’s baffling to see EPA accept a false choice between only two paths forward – fossil-fuel-only vehicles or mass adoption of EVs." — RFA President and CEO Geoff Cooper