The attorneys general of half of all U.S. states are suing the Environmental Protection Agency or EPA over the stringent new fuel economy regulations it issued recently for passenger vehicles, which were adopted at the end of March by the Biden administration.
Two of the 25 attorneys general, Russell Coleman of Kentucky and Patrick Morrisey of West Virginia, are leading the lawsuit, which challenges the regulations based on the claim that the EPA is exceeding its legal authority, as reported by Reuters.
All 25 states participating in the lawsuit are headed by Republican administrations and object to Democratic President Joe Biden’s attempts to transform America’s passenger fleet from one reliant on fossil fuels to one eventually made up entirely of EVs. In reference to these plans, Kentucky attorney general Coleman declared that “the Biden administration is willing to sacrifice the American auto industry and its workers in service of its radical green agenda.”
The lawsuit asserts that the Clean Air Act does not empower the EPA to carry out what is described as the current “top-to-bottom attempt to restructure the automobile industry.” Coleman also said the effort to force the adoption of EVs on an American public that has little overall interest in the vehicles would cause job losses, economic damage, and excessive strain on the power grid.
The EPA already toned down its original fuel economy standards in the face of automotive sector resistance. The standards actually adopted will give automakers more credit for their EV models, thus potentially sparing them from billions of dollars in fines. The fines under the earlier regulations would likely have reached $14 billion by 2032, with around $6.5 billion paid by GM alone. The new rules offer more flexibility and a slightly longer EV adoption timeframe.
Another Republican-led lawsuit was recently defeated when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upheld the EPA’s ruling that California can set its own, stricter emissions standards, as can states imitating it. Former president Donald Trump has said he will reign in California’s ability to set its own emissions and vehicle sales rules if he is re-elected, but at least several major automakers have voluntarily agreed to meet California EV sales goals and other regulations even if they lack the force of law.
The lawsuit is part of an ongoing political battle over the future of transportation in America between those who want to mandate the adoption of EVs as quickly as possible and those favoring a more voluntary approach likely to leave ICE vehicles on the road for much longer, if not indefinitely.
Those in the first camp allege they are urgently saving the world by reducing emissions, while those with the second position claim they are defending freedom of vehicular choice against coercive, but ultimately impractical, government overreach.
The case will be heard by the same U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia that sided with the EPA in the recently-ended California emissions standards suit noted above.
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