Automobile dealers want the Biden administration to quit trying to force them to vroom vroom down electric avenue.
These dealerships are now rolling the throttle on their opposition to the new regulations, saying they are being pushed by “unelected Washington bureaucrats dictating what kind of vehicles Americans can buy.”
The new EPA emissions rules, part of the administration’s climate change policy agenda, would drastically limit the availability of traditional gas-powered vehicles. While Biden political allies claim, “It’s not a ban on gas cars,” the rules would mean gas-powered cars can make up no more than 30 percent of auto sales by 2032.
Last year, fewer than 8 percent of new cars sold in the United States were EVs. The goal of the tailpipe emissions rule is to get that to nearly 60 percent — not including hybrids — in just eight years.
This will “require an increase in sales of electric vehicles that is far beyond the consumer interest we are experiencing at our dealerships,” according to EV Voice of the Customer, an industry group representing 5,000 auto dealers.
“This EV mandate is not the result of an open congressional debate,” the dealer coalition wrote. “Despite generous government, manufacturer and dealer incentives, our customers continue to bypass EVs over concerns about affordability, charging infrastructure, performance in cold weather, and resale value.”
And the National Automobile Dealers Association added, “EPA’s proposed rule goes too far, too fast by not acknowledging current real-world consumer demand for EVs. Members of Congress are encouraged to support efforts to counter EPA’s overly aggressive EV mandates and attempts to effectively ban the sale of gas-powered cars.”
Fewer auto industry experts believe it’s possible to reach Biden’s EV sales mandate. Instead, it’s more likely to drive up costs on the remaining gas-powered cars, putting them out of reach of typical Americans.
“This regulation is another example of President Biden’s assault on the middle class,” said Thomas Pyle, president of the Institute for Energy Research and the American Energy Alliance. “The American people should be free to choose the types of cars and trucks that make the most sense for them. This administration wants to take away that choice by forcing Americans into specific vehicles preferred by government agents at the EPA.
“The Biden regulations will make cars more expensive and ultimately make fewer cars available for Americans.”
And then there are questions about the climate effect of a shift to electric vehicles.
According to a study from the data firm Emission Analytics, EVs release more toxic particles into the atmosphere than traditional vehicles. Why?
Because automobile tailpipe emissions are already so low, most vehicle-related pollution comes from tire and brake wear, not exhaust. The Emissions Analytics study found brakes and tires on EVs release 1,850 times more particle pollution compared to modern tailpipes.
There are even conflicting reports on the net climate effect of current EV policies. Some critics say that, once the carbon effect of mining the rare earths needed to make the vehicles is calculated, they have the same carbon footprint as a comparable gas-powered car. The data don’t back that claim. It’s true that EVs come off the line with a large “carbon debt,” but the gap quickly closes once gas cars hit the road and begin burning fossil fuels.
But what about EVs that spend most of their time in the garage, not on the street?
A recent Harvard study found that because EVs are often bought by people who drive very few miles, their net carbon footprint actually increased with their EV purchase. Replacing high-mileage gas cars with EVs can make a carbon-emissions difference, but putting an urban bike rider in a Chevy Volt does not.
And then there are the realities of who is buying expensive EVs and how they are using them.
The Institute for Energy Research recently looked at Norway, a global leader in green energy and taxpayer-subsidized climate policy. IER reports Norway spends nearly $4 billion annually on EV subsidies, money it can afford thanks to the nation’s $1.5 trillion sovereign wealth fund — the largest in the world — largely funded by oil and gas production.
While massive subsidies for electric vehicles and disincentives for traditional cars have put EVs into two-thirds of Norwegian households, the number of traditional gas-burning vehicles has grown as well. “While the population grew by 11 percent, the total number of passenger cars grew by 25 percent,” IER reports.
Why? Like Americans, Norwegians find gas-powered cars convenient and reliable. They like them.
The conclusion, said Daren Bakst of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, is a Biden EPA policy that simply won’t work.
“This is one of the most extreme rules ever finalized by a federal agency,” Bakst said. “The EPA’s rule would restrict the ability of Americans to buy gas-powered vehicles, a chilling abuse of power and a wanton disregard for individual freedom.
“Unhinged from reality, the EPA is ignoring the fact that consumers don’t want to buy electric vehicles at the level the Biden administration envisions.”
Jessica Towhey writes on education and energy policy for InsideSources.
Reprinted with Permission from The DC Journal – By Jessica Towhey
The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of AMAC or AMAC Action.
The left doesn’t care what the public wants or doesn’t want regarding EVs. The dismal sales figures from the automotive industry are completely irrelevant to the continuance of the global Climate Change financial scam. This has always been about the massive transfer of private wealth from the global masses to what many refer to as the NWO elite, so they can justify the draconian societal changes they are incrementally rolling out. Money and absolute power have always been the focal point of this global scam. EVs are merely one aspect in a much larger and overarching plan, so populations can be limited to the urban landscapes of the super cities. In that way, populations are easier to control and manage.
Yes, the new tailpipe emissions standards are designed to ensure that NO ICE vehicle will be allowed to operate on the road after 2035, if any Democrat wins the WH in 2024. You’ll be allowed to keep your old ICE vehicle, as the left will tell you they aren’t taking away your choice (wink, wink), but by 2030, if not sooner, the government will impose higher taxes or enact outright legislation that will make owning and operating a ICE vehicle prohibitively expensive for all but the very rich and politically connected. Those individuals will get special use permits, because just like private jets for certain government employees, the limited means of transportation that will be available to the masses by that time, will be deemed “too great a burden” for these important people to endure.
Gasoline prices can be raised to unaffordable levels by further government regulations limiting drilling, refining and transporting it within the United States. Licenses, vehicle registration fees, and electronic tolls for ICE vehicles can be made prohibitively expensive overnight. So ultimately, we can keep our ICE vehicles, but the government will find a way to make them unaffordable or illegal to operate outside one’s garage.
Obviously, the American public should NOT be putting up with any of this nonsense. Yet the public does. So ultimately, it’s up the people if they will submit to what is being rolled out. If you wait until everything has been “transformed” before trying to stop it, then it will of course be far too late to do anything about anything.
And yet he has a gasoline powered Corvette in his garage that stores classified documents.
The calculus for supposed reduction in carbon emissions does not include the huge infrastructure needed to support EVs. Homes and businesses will need to have chargers installed, at least some of which will need major upgrading of their current electrical systems. Will apartment complexes have to install a charger(s) for every unit? And then consider all the grid upgrades.
The Constitution says only Congress can make law. Stopping the EPA from enacting rules and regulations makes sense.
The Democrats are totalitarian pigs. They do not believe in a free society but a dictatorial state. They want to turn the U S. into a copy of East Germany or North Korea. Wake up, folks. The Democrats are after us all! Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness be damned.
The U.S. House should be able to enact a resolution that past laws allowing the EPA to enact its own rules and regulations is Un-Constutional. EPA is to cease and desist. All rules and regulations since January 2021 are null and void. President Biden would have nothing to veto. He could appeal to SCOTUS.
If Biden is not wanting gas powered cars on the road he could raise gas taxes to keep prices high at the pump. Concerning oil we export American oil to refineries that process it but we don’t process that type of oil however we import foreign oil because we process that type of oil into gasoline. Not all oil is the same. It seems we need newer refineries for the American type of oil to process it in America. Maybe combustion engines will become a thing of the past but right now they produce the most power at the least cost. Embracing all forms of energy to seek what is best to use to lower costs while keeping our environment safe is the best strategy. Mandating business changes seems like a waste of government time and resources when the marketplace can do it more efficiently at lower costs to taxpayers.
Norway and other countries can easily subsidize little green projects because WE foot the bill and the manpower dedicated to Europe’s defense. I’d make a pledge to trade in both my RV and truck plus three Harleys if Joe sold his coveted 1967 427cc Chevy Mid-Life Crisis except he’s probably too senile to drive anyways. So NO THANKS FJB! I’ll just wait it out until TRUMP gets elected…
How about the government drops all EV requirements for the citizenry until ALL government ICEs are replaced with EVs.
Another item for the long train of abuses and usurpations of the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence.
EVs are not feasible for anyone but short-hop commuters. We lack BOTH the electric utility capacity and power transmission infrastructure to even approach supporting the fast-charging, higher-end EVs. Those big Tesla fast-chargers, in their fastest-charging mode, require a transformer that can power 5 large homes.
All of the EV hype we’ve been hearing is as counterfeit as Biden’s Presidency and the Democrat Party itself.
The globalist agenda is that we, the populace, will not own our own vehicles. That is freedom, autonomy. They plan on taking that away from us. Wake up!
I’m tired of being a nobody in the eyes of my government and politicians!!! I do not want an EV!!! I don’t like anything about them!!! I also don’t like when my government mandates that I purchase a particular product!!! That’s just unAmerican especially when they have lied about so much of the details of the EV and lies and secrecy don’t sit very well with me!!
None in the Biden Admin even drive EVs if any
Can anyone name one government funded agency that achieved one positive outcome ? It is one dud after another All they need is a connection not experience or knowledge Thus we are at the mercy of “experts” for whose expertise we’ll continue to pay
Three major car dealers I have known for years said the same thing, unsolicited: EV’s are the death of the car industry. They represent 20% of the market, period. The dealers are all fighting for 20% of the market share. What does that do to their profits? They said that Americans do NOT want EV’s – Period. No matter what the government says. The American public cannot be forced by the Administrative State to buy EV’s. This is NOT Russia or China.
Another FRAUD perpetrated on the American Public, As is the “Global Warming” / “Climate Change” FRAUD. and all the other “SCARE” tactics being USED by the “ONE WORLD” “GLOBALIST’S” TRAITORS
I think we are missing the BIG pitcher. Gas powered vehicles did NOT require GPS to find the next place to ‘gas-up’ (just around the corner). All these EVs are loaded with GPS gadgets that our dictators can use to track where we are going at any moment. It started with the smart phone. Turn it OFF! This will be a restriction of free movement.
Those EVs are a Biden&Harris Big Dream and they do not care at all what people want most people in this country will never be able to buy on of those cars so Biden will do all he can to kill gas powered cars so he can get his way just think most people will be not be able to afford a EV so Biden does not care since he is so rich with millions sitting in the bank. We need to take this country back my vote will not be for Biden.