President Joe Biden’s contentious electric vehicle mandate is under fire in court. A group of 25 state attorneys general filed a lawsuit Thursday against the administration’s attempt to ram EVs down the throats of the American public.
Joe Biden loves to pick winners and losers in our economy by punishing entrepreneurs and job creators with crippling regulation. Americans who value the free market should be outraged by Biden's costly and reckless EV mandate agenda.
— Markwayne Mullin (@SenMullin) March 21, 2024
The Democrat president’s Environmental Protection Agency last month quietly released new emissions regulations for automakers. They are required to lower “fleetwide average carbon” output by a startling 56% within eight years.
In other words, the industry must sell millions more EVs than today. This despite the almost complete lack of infrastructure over much of the U.S.
Critics charge the “extreme” rule will cripple the U.S. automotive industry as EVs are slow to catch on and thousands gather dust unsold at dealerships despite massive tax breaks.
Daren Bakst is the director of the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Center on Energy and Environment. He said the final rule “would restrict the ability of Americans to buy gas-powered vehicles” — pointing out that the government was misusing its power and disregarding “individual freedom.”
As a direct result of this controversial government action, fully half of the states in the Republic joined the lawsuit.
Kentucky AG Russell Coleman expressed the plaintiffs’ concerns. “The Biden administration is willing to sacrifice the American auto industry and its workers in service of its radical green agenda. We just aren’t buying it.”
Nebraska AG Mike Hilgers released a statement criticizing the White House’s social engineering.
He wrote, “Americans should be free to choose what car they buy. Yet the Biden administration’s new emissions standards will force Americans looking for a new car to buy electric vehicles.”
There are more electric vehicles on American highways today than ever, but Democrats are not content to allow the turn from gas-powered cars to come naturally. Instead they want to regulate the internal combustion engine out of existence.
The vehicles still lack the range and the infrastructure to support travel of any considerable distance. And with prices at historically high levels, the public is simply not in a position to make such a switch.
But the Biden push continues, and he told a White House event early in his presidency that “there’s no turning back.”