As a parting gift to consumers, the Biden administration decided to green-light California’s ban on sales of new gas, diesel and traditional hybrid vehicles.
The measure never received a vote from California’s legislature or the general public. Still, because of the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision, it will be imposed across a dozen states. Millions of Americans will lose the ability to buy the car or truck of their choosing, and all of us will experience higher costs.
We do not have to be resigned to this fate. President Trump campaigned on a promise to end electric vehicle mandates. He signed an order hours after taking the oath of office. Ending electronic vehicle mandates includes rescinding and revising regulations from the EPA and the Department of Transportation and with California’s unlawful ban. In fact, at the president’s direction, the new EPA administrator put the issue in front of Congress, asking it to review the ruling authorizing California’s ban.
If Congress uses its Congressional Review Act authority to overturn the EPA’s action, California’s ban and the threat of it spreading to other states would be eliminated. Without a corresponding change to federal law, there would be no resurrecting the ban under a future administration. Consumers want this certainty from Congress.
If you have doubts about where your representative in the House or your senators stand on this issue, call them. Make sure they understand your position and that you do not want unelected regulators from California deciding which cars can be sold in your state or restricting the vehicles that can be sold elsewhere in the United States.
Those really are the stakes. California, by 2035, will adopt a 100 percent ban on the sale of new vehicles that fail to meet their “zero emission” definition, which excludes all gas cars, all flex-fuel vehicles and all traditional hybrids. A small percentage, no more than 20 percent, can be plug-in hybrids, but that’s it for consumer choice. If California’s regulation is allowed to move forward, it will be illegal for 35 percent to 40 percent of Americans to buy a standard Prius in their states, much less a road-trip-ready minivan.
We’ve already seen how California’s outsized regulatory influence can shape the U.S. vehicle market, even when its policies are clearly at odds with consumers. The top vehicles sold in the United States have long been gas pickup trucks and SUVs. There is a reliable, predictable market for those cars. And yet, autoworkers in Ohio — a state with legislation blocking California’s ban — have received layoff notices because their companies need to scale down gas-car production.
Auto dealers nationwide have been told their manufacturers may have to ration the number of gas cars they supply — because of California. This affects Americans’ prices for new and used vehicles in every state. There is no opting out from those secondary consequences, even in states that don’t follow California’s ban.
Vehicle bans and mandates are un-American, and, fittingly, 70 percent oppose them. Consumers want a range of car and truck options to choose from that can meet their needs and budgets. In short, they want nothing to do with California’s ban, and they don’t want to pay for it. It is hoped Congress takes quick action to protect consumers and soundly reject unlawful vehicle mandates.
