The GOP-controlled House approved a resolution Friday that would overturn a new Biden administration rule on automobile emissions that Republicans say would force Americans to buy unaffordable electric vehicles they don’t want.The House passed the measure, 215-191. Eight Democrats voted in favor, while one Republican, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, voted no.
The rule issued by the Environmental Protection Agency in March would impose the most ambitious standards ever in the United States to cut planet-warming emissions from passenger vehicles.
Under the regulation, industry could meet the limits if 56% of new vehicle sales are electric by 2032, the EPA said. The standard also would require at least 13% plug-in hybrids or other partially electric cars by 2032, as well as more efficient gasoline-powered cars that get more miles to the gallon than cars currently on the road.
“The EPA’s latest tailpipe emissions rule is not really about reducing air pollution. It’s about forcing Americans to drive electric vehicles,’’ said Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Washington, the chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
She called the rule “unreasonable” and “just another example of how the Biden-Harris administration’s rush-to-green agenda is handing China the key to America’s energy future, jeopardizing our auto industry and forcing people to buy unaffordable EVs they don’t want.’’
The new standards are designed to be technology-neutral and performance-based, EPA Administrator Michael Regan said, noting that there are “multiple pathways companies can choose to comply″ with the rule. The EPA could achieve its carbon pollution goals even if sales of battery electric vehicles are as low as 30% in 2032, as long as stringent standards for gas-powered cars are met, he said.