by WASHINGTON (AP) – The Biden administration is expected to announce this week a relaxation of new car emissions standards on tailpipe limits that are planned for three years but will eventually reach the same strict standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency.
The changes come as sales of zero tailpipe emissions electric vehicles, which are required to meet the standards, have begun to slow. The auto industry cited lower sales growth as it resisted the EPA’s choice of standards unveiled last April as part of its most ambitious plan ever to reduce planet-warming emissions from passenger vehicles.
The EPA suggested that the industry could, under its alternative option, reach the limits if 67% of new vehicle sales were electric by 2032.
But during a public comment period on the standards for 2027 to 2032, the auto industry called the benchmarks unworkable with EV sales slowing as consumers worry about cost, range and a lack of publicly available charging stations.
Three people with knowledge of the standards say Biden’s EPA will choose an alternative that delays implementation from 2027 to 2029, but ramps up to reach the EPA’s preferred level from 2030 to 2032. Other unspecified modifications will the alternative that will help the automotive industry. meet the standards, said one of the people.
The people, two from the car industry and one from the government, did not want to be identified because the new standards have not been made available to the public by the EPA.
The changes appear to be aimed at addressing strong industry opposition to the acceleration of EVs, as well as public reluctance to fully embrace the new technology. Conservative courts also face the legitimate threat of legal challenges.
In recent years the Supreme Court, with a conservative majority of 6-3, has become stronger in the powers of federal agencies, including the EPA. The justices have limited the EPA’s authority to fight air and water pollution — including a landmark 2022 ruling that limited the EPA’s authority to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from power plants that contribute to global warming.
The fight against climate change has been a hallmark of his presidency and he wants to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from gasoline-powered vehicles, which are the single largest source of US greenhouse gas emissions.
At the same time, Biden needs cooperation from the auto industry and political support from auto workers, a key political voting bloc. The United Auto Workers union, which has endorsed Biden, has said it favors the transition to electric vehicles but wants to make sure jobs are preserved and the industry pays workers the highest wages which builds the EVs and the batteries.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday that White House officials have “no concerns” about the EPA rule, which could be announced as early as Wednesday.
“We know, with these types of things, it takes time,” she told reporters on Air Force One as Biden traveled to Nevada. “But we’re still going to stay committed to our (climate) goals.”
In general, environmental groups were optimistic about the EPA’s new plan.
Manish Bapna, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council, told reporters last week that he expects the rule to significantly reduce carbon emissions from cars and light-duty trucks, which are the source of a fifth of greenhouse gas emissions. the nation.
“Based on what we’re hearing, there’s no reason to doubt that the climate rules for cars and light-duty trucks will reduce well over 90% of carbon pollution from new cars, SUVs and pickup trucks over the next few years. , said Bapna. “That’s huge.”
Between 2027 and 2055, the EPA rule will “prevent more than 7 billion tons of climate-racking carbon emissions. That’s more than the nation generates in a year. It is absolutely necessary, real, concrete progress,” said Bapna.
“The EPA’s clean car standards will put the pedal to the metal as the US races to achieve cleaner, healthier air for everyone,” said Amanda Leland, executive director of the Environmental Defense Fund, another environmental group.
“Strong clean car standards help provide cleaner air and a safer climate, tens of thousands of dollars in cost savings for our families and hundreds of thousands of new jobs in US manufacturing,” Leland said.
Luke Tonachel, an auto expert with the Natural Resources Defense Council, said the new clean car standards will encourage the auto industry to “continue to invest, as it is already beginning, over the long term” in EVs and zero emissions. vehicles. The rule will also send a signal to infrastructure and utility providers to continue building out the charging infrastructure,” he said.
But Dan Becker at the Center for Biological Diversity said he fears loopholes will allow the industry to continue selling gas burners. He also fears the industry will get away with doing little during the first three years of the standards, which could be overturned if Donald Trump is elected president.
“The bottom line is that the administration is facing pressure from big oil, from big cars and from the dealers to stop progress on EVs and allow more pollution from cars,” a Becker said.
Rallying in the Detroit area in September, Trump argued that Biden’s embrace of electric vehicles – a key part of his clean energy agenda – would ultimately lead to job losses.
Republicans and some in the industry have said the rule would require 67% of new vehicle sales to be electric by 2032, forcing people to buy cars, trucks and SUVs they’re not yet ready to embrace.
But EPA Administrator Michael Regan has said the new rule is a performance standard that will force the industry to come up with solutions.
US electric vehicle sales grew 47% last year to a record 1.19 million as EV market share rose from 5.8% in 2022 to 7.6%. But EV sales growth slowed towards the end of the year. In December, they rose 34%.
The Alliance for Auto Innovation, a major industry trade group, said in a news release that the ramp up to 67% that the EPA originally proposed is too fast for the industry to achieve. The EPA’s pace of EV adoption is faster than President Joe Biden’s goal of electric vehicles accounting for half of new U.S. vehicle sales by 2030, the group said.
“Where we are (or are not) in 2032 is unclear at this point,” the group said. “But the pace of EV adoption should be moderated in 2027, 2028, 2029 and 2030 as it prioritizes more reasonable and achievable electrification targets in the next few (very critical) years.
The EPA’s preferred standards would bring carbon dioxide emissions from 186 grams per mile in 2026 to 82 in 2032, a 56% reduction. The limits would reach 111 grams per mile by 2029.
But under the alternative that environmental groups hope the EPA will adopt, the standards would be relaxed in the first three years, reaching 132 grams by 2029 but still hitting 82 in 2032.
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AP Auto Writer Tom Krisher reported from Detroit. AP reporter Seung Min Kim on Air Force One contributed to this story.
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This story has been updated to correct the grams per mile of carbon dioxide reduction under the EPA’s proposed standards and an alternative that the agency is expected to announce this week. He also corrected that the NRDC president said the EPA rule will prevent 7 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions over 28 years, not 70 billion tons.
