Senator Wants the EPA to Take Tougher Position Toward Car Makers
Delaware Democratic Senator Tom Carper wants the Environmental Protection Agency to set tougher rules on the auto industry in the manufacture of electric cars. Through a missive sent directly to the agency a day after Pres. Biden reported to Congress about his administration’s achievements and goals, Senator Carper is urging the EPA to act forcefully particularly toward car makers.
In order to help the Biden administration achieve its climate goal by 2030, the Delaware Senator is proposing for the EPA to impose the emissions standards set forth in the framework of California’s 2019 agreement with five car makers. The deal requires BMW, Ford, Honda, Volkswagen and Volvo to manufacture hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and zero-emission battery electric vehicles to bring down greenhouse gas emissions by 3.7% annually, starting 2022 through 2026.
Senator Carper, who heads the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee explained in his letter to the EPA that the country is at risk, not only of facing increased public health impacts caused by pollution if there is no robust policy in place to achieve countrywide deployment of zero-emission vehicles. Since other nations have already taken the lead in electric vehicle adoption, the U.S. is also at risk of losing leadership of the global automotive industry, which could eventually lead to loss of automotive jobs.
Additional Info About California’s 2019 Car Manufacturing Agreement with Automakers
Actually, the agreement entered into by the state of California with the 5 car makers was met with setbacks, after ex-president Trump prevented the state from imposing tailpipe pollution standards on automobiles.
However, as President Biden has taken steps to reverse Trump’s orders, a coalition of car makers are currently in talks with the new President to lower the mileage standards set forth by the 2019 California deal.
Nonetheless, since the Biden administration is also poised to increase corporate tax to 28%, the California deal will entitle car makers to receive tax credits if they meet the requirements for manufacturing zero-emission electric vehicles, whether powered by electric battery or hydrogen fuel cell.