An attempt by the Biden administration to set new emissions standards for electric vehicles was blocked by a bipartisan group of lawmakers on Friday.
In March, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a final rule setting new emissions standards under the Clean Air Act that will require up to two-thirds of new cars sold by 2032 to be electric vehicles.
According to the EPA's final rule, the new standards will affect “light-duty vehicle manufacturers, independent commercial importers, alternative fuel converters, and medium-duty vehicle manufacturers and converters.”
The House of Representatives on Friday passed a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution introduced by Rep. John James (R-Mich.) to block the implementation of “unrealistic regulations.”
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A Tesla Model 3 charges at a ChargePoint electric vehicle charging station in Rhinebeck, New York on September 3. (Angus Mordaunt/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The amendment passed with bipartisan support, with eight Democrats voting in favor.
Democrats who opposed the bill argued that the EPA rules were “critically important” to reducing emissions, but Rep. James called the Biden administration's new standards “devastating” on the House floor ahead of the vote.
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“The Biden-Harris Administration's EPA emissions regulations are yet another outdated regulation that will devastate Michigan's auto industry and devastate the middle class and our most vulnerable people,” James said in a press release after the bill passed. “It's a de facto electric vehicle mandate that will put 77,580 manufacturing jobs in Michigan's 10th District at risk of disappearing. I'm grateful that the House passed this bill, ensuring the Biden-Harris Administration's regulations don't destroy the livelihoods of thousands of people in Michigan and across the nation.”
Rep. John James (R-Mich.) held a press conference in Washington, DC on May 1st. (Anna Moneymaker)
“Vice President Harris has made it clear from the start that mandating electric vehicles and eliminating the internal combustion engine is one of her top priorities, and as she says, her values have not changed. The Biden-Harris EPA continues to impose extreme standards on vehicle pollutants and greenhouse gases in an effort to force Americans to switch to electric vehicles, taking away consumer choice, forcing unaffordable options on American families and workers, and crushing jobs,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-Louisiana, said in a press release after the vote.
President Biden spoke about the Baltimore Bridge collapse on March 26th in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, DC. (Pedro Ugarte/Getty Images)
The bill's passage comes just one day after the American Energy Alliance and more than 20 other energy groups sent a letter to members of Congress urging them to pass the CRA.
“This emissions rule is a significant overreach by applying EPA's auto regulations in a novel way and shifting the auto market toward products that align with the Biden Administration's ideological preferences,” the groups said in a letter to lawmakers on Thursday.
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This bipartisan bill has been mirrored in the Senate by Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Nebraska, who introduced the Senate version of the CRA in May.
