EPA Proposes New Rules to Curb Vehicle Emissions

What’s the story?

• The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing a new set of regulations to impose penalties on companies that do not move quickly enough toward electric vehicles.
• Many are saying this is one of the EPA’s most ambitious proposals for reducing vehicle emissions, and the agency hopes it will transform the entire auto industry. 

What to know about the proposal 

• The suggested regulations target emissions from vehicle tailpipes and air pollution that directly damages human health and fuels climate change. The proposal sets an emission standard based on the vehicle’s type and size. 
• The standards require vehicles to emit just 82 grams of CO2 per mile traveled — a 56% decrease in the industry-wide target for 2026 set in 2021.   
• The agency estimates that manufacturers will have to spend an additional $633-$1,200 per vehicle to meet these requirements. However, car shoppers are expected to save money since electric vehicles are cheaper to operate. 
• EPA officials also roughly calculate that up to 67% of new vehicles sold in 2023 may have to be electric for carmakers to comply with the new strict standards. 

What the EPA is saying

• EPA Administrator Michael Regan said the proposed standards would eliminate 7.3 billion tons of CO2 from being emitted, the equivalent of four years worth of air pollution from the entire U.S. transportation industry. 
• Regan said the EPA would work alongside the labor sector and environmentalist organizations: 

“We’re going to envision and innovate and achieve this future together. It is well within our grasp. Make no mistake about it.”

• While the auto industry is already moving toward electric vehicles, companies have varying timelines for going completely electric, many of which do not comply with the EPA’s goals. Margo Oge, former EPA official and chair of the board of the International Council on Clean Transportation, said: 

“The administration is going to make history — if indeed, at the end of the day, they finalize these ambitious standards.”

What’s next?

• In response, the auto industry emphasizes how charging infrastructure must greatly increase to keep up their sales. Many feel uncertain that the globe has enough resources to embrace and accelerate that shift. 
• The proposed regulations will be open for comment, and it is expected that car makers will fight for more realistic plans. In anticipation of pushback, the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, the trade group for major automakers, defended the EPA’s authority to set the standards. In a legal filing, the group said:

“However this litigation concludes, widespread vehicle electrification is inevitable.”

Do you think the EPA's proposal is too ambitious?

-Jamie Epstein

(Photo credit: iStock/milehightraveler)