(image from Newsweek)
Biden’s administration recently announced a new EPA regulation designed to boost the number of all-electric and hybrid vehicles, as a part of the administration’s efforts to reduce US carbon emissions by half by 2030.
Starting with model year 2027 (which typically begins production in early 2026) the rule gradually limits manufacturer’s cumulative tailpipe emissions until over half of new cars in the US would be zero-emissions by 2032. Manufacturers can sell any mix of gas, hybrid, electric, or other vehicles to meet their cap.
The EPA made some concessions to the auto industry when finalizing the rule — which now has relaxed emissions caps in the first few years, before severely restricting emissions after 2030. This change is meant to appease auto union workers who are worried about jobs lost from the switch to electric (EVs have fewer parts and therefore require fewer workers, and many new EV factories are in states that don’t support unions).
Mitigating climate change requires drastic, immediate action, so it’s reasonable to see these concessions as fundamentally weakening the fight to cut carbon, especially when EPA regulations are the only way to get change through — without a trifecta, major climate change legislation likely won’t get through Congress. The Los Angeles Times editorial calls it “too weak and slow to respond appropriately to the gravity of the unfolding environmental crisis.” However, I see the concessions to the auto industry as a smart political move by Biden to ensure that he can win reelection. Auto workers were a major part of Trump’s voter base in 2016, so taking care not to alienate them will hopefully help him win reelection, and then enact more dramatic change.
Although most of the auto industry acknowledges that electric cars are the future (just look at Tesla) and are satisfied with the final regulation, fossil fuel companies are obviously opposed. Republican General Attorneys are gearing up to attack the regulation, as we’ve seen in class that they’ve done with greenhouse gas regulations. Trump, naturally, promises to undo the regulation if he is elected. Biden’s administration must get their climate regulation passed over 60 days before the end of his term to prevent it from being overturned by a simple majority vote if Trump takes office.
Some class connections:
The EPA regulation determines what cars will be produced, but not what cars consumers will buy. As battery prices decrease (input costs going down), and the production process for EVs becomes more streamlined (technology improving), the price of an EV will become comparable to that of a gas car, and the supply curve will shift right, hopefully resulting in more EVs being bought at a lower price. The government can intervene on the demand side by expanding EV tax credit to lower the price of EVs for consumers. EV charging stations could also be seen as a complementary good to EVs, which means that with more EVs on the road, we’ll probably see more of them popping up.
Sources:
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/20/climate/biden-phase-out-gas-cars.html
https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2024-03-20/biden-electric-car-rules
https://www.npr.org/2024/03/20/1239092833/biden-epa-auto-emissions-evs
1 comment:
I think it's great that the government is taking action to try and cut carbon emissions. At this rate, if carbon emissions continue to rise, the climate will get warmer which will continue to have huge affects on the oceans, land, and atmosphere. I think it's important that people don't get discouraged if Earth's temperature does not go down right away. Because of how far we have gotten already, even if all emission stopped today the temperature would continue to rise for a few more years and only begin to stabilize after a few decades, but this is crucial for the lives of future generations and even out generation. I think that electric and hybrid vehicles are a great solution to this issue because of how much less they emit greenhouse gasses (around 49%) and I hope that more action in this direction continues to be taken.
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