The Biden administration is reportedly relaxing some of the EPA's draconian mandates designed to force producers and consumers to transition to electric vehicles — part of the president's crusade to "end" fossil fuels — after significant blowback from consumers, auto unions, and the industry. The timing of the loosening of government requirements is also quite convenient for Biden as he struggles to retain support.
As the New York Times reported over Presidents' Day weekend:
In a concession to automakers and labor unions, the Biden administration intends to relax elements of one of its most ambitious strategies to combat climate change, limits on tailpipe emissions that are designed to get Americans to switch from gas-powered cars to electric vehicles, according to three people familiar with the plan.
Instead of essentially requiring automakers to rapidly ramp up sales of electric vehicles over the next few years, the administration would give car manufacturers more time, with a sharp increase in sales not required until after 2030, these people said. They asked to remain anonymous because the regulation has not been finalized. The administration plans to publish the final rule by early spring.
The change comes as President Biden faces intense crosswinds as he runs for re-election while trying to confront climate change. He is aiming to cut carbon dioxide emissions from gasoline-powered vehicles, which make up the largest single source of greenhouse gases emitted by the United States.
As Townhall reported when the Biden EPA's "strongest-ever" rule was announced, the administration mandated "at least 54 percent of new vehicles sold would need to be electric by 2030, while up to 67 percent may need to be electric by 2032," a rule that surpassed "the 50-percent EV figure the auto industry agreed to in 2021."
In the time since the Biden EPA announced its rule, the obvious costs and other issues with meeting the mandate became apparent. Ford Motor Company alone dealt Biden's attempts to force a transition to EVs not one, but two blows as it realized losing more than $30,000 per electric off its line was a recipe for ruin. Rental vehicle company Hertz announced that it was trading roughly one-third of its EV fleet for gas-powered vehicles. Biden's heavy-handed EV pipe dream was even blamed as one reason for the United Auto Workers strike last year.
For now at least, it seems the blowback from industry and workers — not to mention consumers who either didn't want to or simply couldn't afford to buy into EVs the way Biden expected, save for Tesla's landmark success ignored by the Biden administration — has pushed the government's mandate past Biden's time in office.
"The Biden administration has blinked in the face of widespread opposition across the political spectrum to its draconian electric vehicle mandate," observed Alfredo Ortiz, the president and CEO of Job Creators Network (JCN). "Never underestimate the power of the people to change bad policies," he emphasized. "Public pressure campaigns work, and JCN is proud to be a loud megaphone on this issue."
"America's position on EVs is clear: We're just not that into you. According to JCN's SBIQ national scientific poll of small business owners, 70% of respondents oppose EV mandates," Ortiz reminded. "The Biden administration should respect the wishes of the American public and economic reality and not only delay its EV mandate but scrap it altogether."